Wapda regains leadership in Premier Soccer League
From Abid Usman

LAHORE—The see-saw battle continues as Wapda regained leadership in Second Pakistan Premier Soccer League outclassing Panther Club 4-1 at Rawalpindi’s Army Sports Complex under floodlights.
According to information provided here on Tuesday by Pakistan Football Federation the electricitymen were too good for disjointed Faisalabad team and hammered four goals after
conceding 11th minute goal from Panther’s striker Qurban Ali. Spearhead Muhammad Niaz levelled the terms in the 30th minute and Imran Niazi, forty-eight seconds later, made it 2-1. Wapda
added two more goals in the second half through Arif Mehmood (51st minute) and Zahid (88th minute).
Wapda, under former National skipper Tanveer Ahmed, seeking sixth national title, has so far pocketed 44 points from 20 matches while second-placed Army managed 42 points with one game in hand. KRL (40 pts), PTCL (36 pts) and National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) (35 pts) are from third to fifth place, respectively.
Meanwhile, Khan Research Laboratories kept their hopes alive for top prize of Rs.3 lacs by snatching a 2-0 win over Wohaib Club of Lahore. Right winger Qadeer Ahmed gave 29th minute lead to Kahuta-based out fit with a sweetly-timed diving header while skipper Allah Nawaz consolidated the lead on the stroke of interval.
The 12-team event has a purse of Rs. 2 lacs for the runner-up whereas third-placed team will walk away with Rs. 1 lac. The most valuable player (MVP) will get Rs. 25000 while leading marksman will pocket Rs. 20,000.
PTCL, who won first edition of National Football Challenge Cup last August at the same venue, lost their track and went out of top three berths when they suffered unexpected 0-1 defeat at the hands of Pakistan Navy. The 61st minute of the game saw striker and skipper Rana Zahir Ahmed, SAF Games Gold Medallist at Colombo 1991, striking all-important goal for the seamen.
Navy completed their allotted 22 matches and secured 21 points with five wins with eleven lost. They are currently ninth above Wohaib FC (20 pts), Panther Club (17 pts) and Pak PWD (12 pts) are in relegation sector.
Rana Naseer, Muhammad Amin and Hidayatullah supervised the match under Match Commissioner Muhammad Irfan Khan Niazi and Referee Inspector Chaudhry Muhammad Arshad. Tomorrow on Wednesday at Rawalpindi’s Army Stadium, PTCL will take on Army after Taraveeh prayers at 8.30 PM.