KARACHI: Navy held leaders Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) to a goalless draw while Baloch FC inflicted a 3-1 defeat on Pak Elektron Limited (PEL) in their matches of the 8th Pakistan Premier Football League held at different venues of the country on Friday, 28 October 2011.
At the Municipal Stadium in Rawalpindi, Navy, who were downed by KRL 1-0 in their mid-week home game, were able to hold the prospective champions to take their points to 12 from 17 games.
“Today, the boys played well. Had we not squandered two easy chances in the second half, the result would have been different,” Navy manager Khalid Zuber told ‘The News’ from Rawalpindi.
This was the third draw played by KRL who have been undefeated so far, slowly inching towards their second title in three years as they have 48 points from 18 meetings. But their reserves will have to perform in their remaining 12 games as over a half a dozen of their top young players will be missed by them due to their engagement with the national team which is going to start its preparations for the SAFF Cup in Lahore on Saturday (today). Sajjad Mehmood will now take the centre stage on the KRL bench as coach in the absence of Tariq Lutfi, who will supervise the national team’s camp.
Meanwhile, at the Sadiq Shaheed Stadium in Quetta, Baloch FC recovered from 0-1 down to overwhelm PEL 3-1 to take their tally to 19 from 20 meetings. Riaz Ahmed gave PEL the lead in the second minute of the match. But Baloch Club’s Amir Khan equalised in the 31st minute while Abdul Quddos and Habibullah scored the other two goals in the 45th and 64th minute of the match as Baloch FC completed their come back win.
In the other match at the same venue, Chaman’s Muslim FC held Afghan FC to a goalless draw that helped them inflate their tally to 40 from 21 games while Afghan FC also moved to 40 from 19 matches, having a little edge at the second place over Muslim FC on a goal-difference. The Chaman derby was scheduled to be played on Thursday 27 Oct 2011, but the death of local JUI leader forced the postponement of the match by a day.
Today’s fixtures: Police v Muslim FC (Sadiq Shaheed Stadium, Quetta), PIA v KPT (Peoples Sports Complex, Karachi).
[The News]