KARACHI: 12th Pakistan Football Federation League ‘B’ Division 2020 Final Round Departmental Leg concluded today, 25 October in the most dramatic fashion.
The Drigh Road Union Stadium in Karachi witnessed an action-packed match between Karachi United and Gwadar Port Authority as both teams were desperate to secure the remaining promotion spots to next year’s Pakistan Premier Football League.
After a nervous first half, GPA striker Parvaiz scored the first goal of the match in the 65th minute. However, KU equalized thanks to a towering header by Amir in the 86th minute.
With the game finishing 1-1, full time saw contrasting scenes as KU players invaded the pitch in celebration while GPA players were inconsolable thinking they had failed to be promoted. However, GPA received a surprise after PFF confirmed that they had pipped Railways to 3rd place due to a better head-to-head record against them after their opening 2-1 win over the Lahore-based team on 9 October.
KU finished 2nd with 9 points from 5 games, while GPA and Railways both got 8 points from 5 games each. KU, formed in 1996, have finally completed a long difficult journey from playing local youth tournaments in Karachi to finally getting promoted to the top division for the first time in 24 years. This was also Gwadar Port Authority’s first ever promotion to the top flight.
Railways may have felt confident after being awarded a 3-0 walkover against Pak Afghan Clearing Agency (PACA) as PACA forfeited their last two matches against them (21 October) and Police (24 October). But missing out on head-to-head tiebreaker according to competition rules mean Railways despite having a better goal difference than GPA in this PFF League, will remain in B Division for 2021.
With Masha United of Faisalabad already confirmed promoted by finishing top of Departmental Leg with 11 points from 5 games and Baloch FC Quetta also promoted much earlier being the sole Club Leg winner, Karachi United and Gwadar Port Authority join them as the remaining promoted teams for 2021 PPFL.