LAHORE, March 11: Golden goal by Imran steered Gojra Sports Club, Gojra into the final of the national Inter-club hockey championship, stunning Mitchell Club, Okara 3-2. Two goals each by Abbas and Arshad Sheikh helped MAO Old Boys, Club Lahore thrash PPWD, Karachi 6-2 to meet Gojra in the final at the National Hockey Stadium No.2 ground on Sunday.
In the first semifinals a competitive game was witnessed between Gojra Sports and Mitchell Club But it was Gojra’s day, who came from behind twice to win a gruelling tie.
Former Olympian Muhammad Sarwar drew first blood for Mitchell, converting the first short-corner off a direct try in the 9th minute.
Gojra equalized in the 35th minute, after missing two sitters. Rashid Imran cashed in on the fourth short-corner as two teams were 1-1 at half time.
After interval, Mitchell again took the lead (2-1) when Sarfraz, the younger brother of Sarwar, slammed in a fine field goal after a short melee in front of the goalmouth.
Being 2-1 down, Gojra brought in former Olympian and coach Tahir Zaman.
In the 60th minute, Mitchell missed a golden opportunity when Zulifqar Ali, received a fine pass from right side, but failed to connect.
Only two minutes before the scheduled time, Gojra Sports heaved a sigh of relief when Abbas scored a field goal. Abbas received a fine pass just on top of the circle, wasting no time hit hard which found the net. In extra-time, Imran scored a field goal in the 73rd minute to seal Gojra’s victory.
MAO Old Boys Club also bounced back after being 2-0 down to earn an impressive win against PPWD, Karachi. PPWD made an impressive start scoring two quick goals in first 15 minutes.
Mudassar Abbas struck the first in the 3rd minute while Atif Mir doubled the lead in the 15th minute. But MAO Club made a comeback scoring six goals in a row.
Abbas banged home his first in the 27th minute off a field attempt. Two minutes later Yasir scored the equalizer as two teams went for half time with 2-2 score.
Arshad put MAO 4-2 ahead, scoring back-to-back goals in the 41st and 51st minute converting short-corner.
Shafqat Rasool made the score 5-2 in the 55th minute before Abbas completed the route scoring his second in the 67th minute.