FAISALABAD: A sparkling hat-trick by striker Naimat Ullah led Pakistan Television (PTV) to a resounding 4-0 victory over Faisalabad’s Punjab Medical College (PMC) in the sixth Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) Cup final here at the Agriculture University Ground the other day.
Earlier, the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) recorded a 2-1 win over Bannu Red to win the third-place decider.
The chief guest at the final was former MPA and ex-international football player Qamar-uz-Zaman Awan.
The chief guest presented trophies to three top teams besides the Rs.1,00,000 cash award to the winning skipper Zarrar. The runners-up, the PMC, and the third-placed SSGC, received Rs. 50,000 and Rs. 30,000 respectively.
PTV’s front-runner Naimat Ullah finished as the leading goal scorer of the eight-team tournament with six goals and pocketed Rs.15,000 while PMC winger Mohammad Yousuf was voted the best player of the event. He took Rs. 25,000 for outstanding display throughout the event. Quetta’s Baloch Club received the Fair Play trophy.
In the final, Naimat Ullah was the hero of the one-sided affair with three goals that proved too good for the losers. His three goals also enabled him to record the first hat-trick of the event.
Winger Akhtar Zaman opened the scoring in the 13th minute off a free-kick, and thereafter it was Naimat who showed his striking ability with PMC’s defence failing to mark him properly.
Naimat doubled the margin in the 35th minute as PTV led 2-0 at the breather. He added two more goals in the 49th and 83rd minute as the PMC crumbled under pressure and conceded the final 0-4.
By virtue of reaching the final, both the PMC and the PTV, also earned the status of A-Division club in PFF’s files and they will show their mettle in the 53rd National Championship (Tier-I) 2007.
Earlier, the in third-place match, Din Badshah struck his fifth goal of the competition but his strike for Bannu Red failed to rescue NWFP’s outfit against the SSGC. The Karachi-based SSGC opened the scoring in positive mood when striker Aftab Ahmed struck within 95 seconds. Opportunist striker Badshah drew level within eight minutes and it was left to the lanky international striker Asim Faiz to steer the all-important winning goal in the 80th minute, to make it 2-1 in favour of the SSGC, a scoreline that remained intact till the very end.
Chaudhry Mohammad Asghar (Pakistan Railways) acted as the Match Commissioner in the final while former FIFA Referee Mian Abdul Bari (Khanewal) was Referee Assessor. The duty of referees and assistant referees were performed by Imtiaz Ali Shah, Rana Naseer Ahmed, Shahid Rasheed and Ulfat Khan.
