Watched by a sizeable crowd, the bankers were made to work hard for victory by PTCL who took the lead in the 37th minute. But their defence crumbled under pressure in the last 20 minutes when they conceded three goals with skipper Javed Iqbal leading from the front and pumping in two goals.
It was the second time that NBP won the title. They lifted the trophy at Lahore in 1999 before PTCL dethroned them 2-0 at Bannu last year.
Irrespective of the final result, the match was played at a brisk pace and provided exciting hockey which confirms the fact that the sport was still alive and loved by the fans.
Both the teams made nice moves and fought their hearts out to dominate the opponent.
The pressure of the big match atmosphere was evident on both the teams when exuberance of youth also led to some rough play. Mohammad Naeem Akbar (NBP) and Ikhlaq Ahmad (PTCL) were given marching orders in the 27th and 50th minutes, besides a green card to banker’s Sultan Ashraf in the 20th minutes. The tally of cards could have been more had the umpires been a b it more severe and intolerant.
PTCL looked the better outfit in the first half and made most of the running. But lacked the killer instinct. NBP regrouped themselves after a scoreless first half and despite conceding a goal, remained composed until they sounded the board thrice to emerge deserving winners.
PTCL also appeared to have done their home work on penalty corner executioner Imran Ali Warsi who failed to convert any of the five penalty corners.
PTCL also made better use of the no-off side rule when two of its forwards were always available for attack around National Bank’s 25.
But if the banker’s deadly Imran failed, the forward line stuck to its task and despite fine perfromance from PTCL goalkeeper Mohammad Iqbal, capitalized from most of the opportunities that came their way.
The defending champions made the first notable move in the fourth minute but Akhtar Ali’s fierce hit from top circle hit his own forward after NBP goalkeeper Shabbir Hussain was left wrong-footed.
NBP retaliated in the 16th minute but Iqbal took Mohammad Kashif Ikram’s push on his chest. A few minutes later the bankers once again found Iqbal rock solid when he saved Sumair’s Saleem solid hit amidst dozens of flailing legs. But the banker’s best scoring chance came in the 21st minute when Kashif’s hit rebounded to Mohammad Adnan Zakir whose try crossed the sidelines after deflecting from the right pole.
With both the teams locked at 0-0 at half time, PTCL went 1-0 ahead in the 37th minute when an unmarked Arif scooped the ball into the net with goalkeeper Shabbir stranded in no man’s land.
The banker’s raised the tempo of the game in search of an equalizer. A 39th minute penalty corner led to a long corner and after a melee in the defence, Adnan Zakir sounded the board with a carpet shot.
PTCL made three excellent moves in the next 19 minutes but were thwarted by bank defence and the goalkeeper. NBP, in the 59th minute and against the run of play, went ahead when Javed Iqbal scored after Imran Warsi’s fifth penalty corner push rebounded from goalkeeper Iqbal.
With just little over one minute left and the PTCL defence in the other half helping its forwards, bankers launched a counter- offensive when left-out Owais Moeed picked the ball from his half to provide an inch perfect pass to Javed Iqbal who ran almost 50 yards on the right flank before putting the ball in the net.
NBP skipper Javed Iqbal was adjudged player of the championship while PTCL’s Sabzar Ali was declared player of the final.
THIRD-PLACE PLAY-OFF: In the third-place play-off match played early in the morning, Punjab ‘A’ thrashed Police 5-0 after Zubair Riaz converted a 17th minute penalty corner to put his team 1-0 at half-time.
Asif Bilal then scored two second half goals in the 41st and 59th minutes while Mohammad Rizwan and Mohammad Siddique chipped in one each to complete the tally.
Teams:
NBP: Shabbir Hussain, Imtiaz Ahmad, Imran Ali Warsi, Abdul Wasif Khan, Sumair Saleem, Abdul Asim Khan, Owais Moeed, Javed Iqbal (captain), Mohammad Adnan Zakir, Mohammad Naeem Akbar, Mohammad Kashif Ikram, Mohammad Bilal, Haroon Hanif, Sultan Ashraf, Abdul Imran Khan, Aamir Ishrat, Abid Hussain.
PTCL: Mohammad Iqbal, Ehsanullah, Waheed Khan, Mohammad Khaleeq, Sabzar Ali, Atif, Tariq Aziz, Akhtar Ali, Shakir Munir, Ikhlaq Ahmed, Sajjad Anwar, Arif, Raza Mohiuddin, Saboor, Bilal Saeed
UMPIRES: Faiz Mohammad Faizi, Jamil Butt
NBP 3 PTCL 1 (final)
Punjab ‘A’ 5 Police 0
(third place play-off)