KRL stage recovery to beat Railways 3-2 in thriller

LAHORE—Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) struck twice within 70 seconds in early second session to beat Pakistan Railways 3-2 in the Lahore Phase of third Pakistan Premier Soccer League at Railways stadium here on Wednesday.
KRL, having the services of star strikers Muhammad Essa, Adeel Ahmed and Muhammad Waseem, dominated the 90-minute tussle right from the beginning and after midfield skirmishes for most of the first half, they surged ahead through Pakistani skipper Essa whose lovely left footed drive gave keeper Tariq no chance whatsoever. The 21st minute goal was Essa’s second in the marathon 110-match league that will conclude in March 2007.
Railways went all out in quest of leveller and against the run of play they steered the goal in the 36th minute. Lanky striker Asif Hameed, current leading scorer of Railway in ongoing show, utilized Naveed Riaz’s pass with perfection leaving KRL’s keeper Amir Qureshi in no man’s land. It was 1-1 at interval.
The first eight minutes of second half provided thrilling moments for the soccer enthusiast as three times ball went into the cage. Midfielder Muhammad Akram made it 2-2 for two-times National title-holder Railway in the 50th minute when his 30-metre drive went past Amir and landed into left corner. But their joy was short when KRL struck the ball twice into the net.
Adeel Ahmed, hero of SAG Final at Colombo, created both the goals. The 52nd minute saw his cut back from by-line was thrashed into net by skipper Sajjad Hussain with ease to make it 2-2.
Seventy seconds later, substitute winger Muhammad Qasim cut in from right and his drive resulted into melee durin which Adeel tapped the ball infront of Muhammad Waseem who poked the ball gently into right corner. To make it 3-2.There was no further scoring in next 37 minutes as KRL clinched the match to raise their tally to 25 points, three behind leader Pakistan Army.
Mian Rizwan Ali and Chaudhry Abdul Rasheed acted as Match Commissioner and Referee Assessor respectively. The Referees were Rauf Bari, Shafaat Habib, Asif Kiani and Waheed Murad Thursday (Dec 21) Fixture : Wohaib FC v Pakistan Army (Punjab University Old Campus ground)—INP