Sindh Government Press (SGP) staged recovery to beat Pakistan Police 2-1 in Group-A of Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) League-Departmental Phase 2008. It was second successive defeat for Police in three days with identical 2-1 scoreline.
The Police played offensively from the start, fervently attacking while their SGP opponents looked dangerous mostly on quick breaks, but the Policemen, after defeat in the first match on Sunday, more than held their ground against the team who won several laurels in the past under current manager Ghulam Haider.
Police's continued attacks that earned them the opener in the 6th minute when winger Rasheed Ahmed played a fine one-two with midfielder Zulfiqar Ali, drew the keeper Adnan Ahmed out and slotted the ball low into left corner. SGP, under coach Muhammad Ramzan, reduced the arrears in the 28th minute when veteran midfielder Muhammad Ilyas collected the long ball from defender Akhtar Ali and sent the ball past keeper Saeed Ahmed from the edge of the penalty area.
It was 1-1 at interval. The second half provided great entertainment for the once again well-sized crowd, as the ball moved up and down the field fast and there were many great moves on both sides.
Both teams had opportunities, but kept ending up denied by the other side. But just as it looked like it was going to be drawn game, SGP's striker Saeed Ahmed raced onto Javed Ahmed's defence-splitting pass, side-stepped three markers to crash the 83rd minute match-winner.
Quetta-based Police, playing without suspended Nida Muhammad, responded with increasing pressure, and the match turned into a fast-paced end-to-end game. The Police outfit found it hard to create chances however, with Pressmen absorbing the pressure well and putting forward a great performance in defence as it ended 2-1 in favour of SGP. Police suffered a set back in the 84th minute when Rasheed, scorer against PPWD on Sunday and SGP today, was shown the Red Card.
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