By By Alam Zeb Safi
The other match, which was scheduled to be held between Army and Navy at the Army Sports Complex in Rawalpindi, was postponed due to security reasons.
At the PAF Complex in Islamabad, KRL pulled off their eleventh victory of the season when they edged out hosts PAF 3-1.
Promising striker Kaleemullah gave KRL the lead in the 12th minute with an excellent field effort. However, after the strike, KRL players slowed down the pace of the game which gave the opponents the chance to disturb the visitors with a few quick rallies from both wings and they were able to level the tie in the 43rd minute when Aamir Khan's curling drive beat the goalie Ghulam Nabi.
After the breather, KRL, who were also enjoying the support of their captain Samar Ishaq, Mudassir Saeed and goalie Ghulam Nabi, who were specifically called from the national team camp in Lahore, showed their worth. In the 67th minute, KRL captain Samar Ishaq's hit deflected off the post and defender Muhammad Ahmad made no mistake in just tapping it in, placing the visitors on the front foot with a 2-1 lead. International striker Muhammad Qasim added to the misery of the hosts with an excellent field goal in the 82nd minute to help KRL finish with 3-1.
The win took KRLs points to 35 from 13 meetings while PAF have 15 points from 14 appearances.
"We did struggle in the first half due to bumpy pitch but slowly and gradually our players adapted to the conditions and played excellently after half time," KRL coach Sajjad Mehmood told The News after the match.
"So far we have done a good job, and will try to maintain the same winning pace to finish on the top," he said.
Meanwhile, at the Railways Stadium in Lahore, the in-form WAPDA faced anxious moments before ousting Lahore's PEL 2-1 to stretch their points to 34 from 13 meetings.
After a slow start, WAPDA broke the ice through Zeeshan who scored on a direct free-kick in the 23rd minute. However, PEL bounced back strongly through Asmatullah's header in the 45th minute. A grueling fight was witnessed in the second half but it was WAPDA captain Arif Mehmood who netted the decisive goal on a penalty in the 85th minute.
With the loss, PEL are still trailing with 15 points from 13 matches.
Today's fixtures: KESC v Afghan FC, HBL v Nushki Baloch FC, NBP v KPT.