Zafar shattered the defence of his previous organization and gave no room to NBP with three stylish goals. MVP of KPT PFF Cup earlier this year, 26-year-old Zafar joined WAPDA skipper Arif Mehmood in hat-trick makers list (Arif penciled the first two, both against Sahiwal’s Young Blood). In fact NBP were the first to settle down and opened the scoring through striker Imran in the 28th minute. But their joy failed to earn distance as Zafar turned the tide with two goals in the spell of six minute. Zafar drew level in the 39th minute after fine work by Jalal Uddin and he gave Portmen the lead in the second minute of injury time of first session. KPT led 2-1 at interval in a thriller at interval infront of big gathering.
Lanky spearhead Zahid Ahmed enhanced the lead further in the 49th minute and Zafar, hungry for more goals in the second session, earned well-deserved hat-trick in the 55th minute with immense-power drive. Hardy one minute had elapsed international midfielder Farooq Shah pulled one back to make it 2-4. KPT also defeated the same rivals 2-1 when Muhammad bin Younus and Zahid Ahmed were scorers in KPT PFF Cup final on 7 March at KPT-Benazir Sports Complex, Kharadar, Karachi. Both the teams completed four matches with KPT making nine points as compare to banker’s five.
Tariq Lutfi’s gamble of fielding ageing keeper Abu Bakar once again provided PIA positive result as they notched their first victory in the event, beating Muhammad Essa-led KESC by solitary goal. Their other hero was Faisalabad-born former PMC Athletico striker Hussnain Abbas who fired the match winner in the 45th minute. PIA had dominated the play but Hussnain, Nasr Ullah and Imran missed gilt-edges chances. PIA managed five points from four matches while KESC had seven in as many matches.
Sunday (26 Sep) Fixture:
Afghan v HBL (Jamal Nasir Stadium, Chaman 4 PM), Nushki Baloch FC v SSGC (Nushki Stadium, Nushki 4 PM), Navy v PAF 1.30 PM, KRL v Army 4 PM (Municipal Stadium, Saidpur Road, Satellite Town, Karachi)