KARACHI Lahore and Faisalabad set up a final date after convincing victories against their opponents in the Junior Super Hockey League at Hockey Club of Pakistan on Wednesday.
Two-goal Mohammad Aleem fired Lahore into the so-called league's final after a 4-1 victory over Sialkot.
After a barren first half, Lahore stepped up pressure in the second session to grab a 2-0 lead. The winner might have broken the ice in the 27th minute, but Mohammad Usman's angular hit from the right missed the target.
After missing yet another sitter in the 33rd minute, Lahore finally opened the scoring on a penalty corner in the 37th minute through Aleem.
Lahore dominated the session with their darting runs to pin Sialkot defence in its own half most of the time.
Kashif Shah doubled the ascendancy when he rounded Sialkot goalkeeper Agha Abid to slam home through a reverse hit two minutes before the end of the second period.
Lahore looked in command in the third session and started with a third goal in the 65th minute which came through a full-blooded hit from Mohammad Bilal that trickled down into the net off Sialkot goalkeeper.
Bilal once again tested Agha a minute later but the goalkeeper proved lucky this time as the angular effort was saved.
Lahore completed the tally with rising push on a short corner in the 69th minute by skipper Aleem who was also adjudged the player of the match.
Sialkot must be blamed for their slackness in the third half as they came near reducing the margin, but squandered the opportunity in the 73rd minute when Mohammad Adnan failed on a one-to-one against the Lahore goalkeeper Basharat.
The losers eventually scored the face-saving consolation goal a minute before the end when Dilbar found the target through an along-the-carpet strike.
Faisalabad got the better of Islamabad 3-1 to join Lahore in the final.
Islamabad gave their rivals a big fright in the sixth minute when they came near scoring the opening goal but Faisalabad goalkeeper Mazhar Abbas, also declared the player of the match, was lucky to stop the ball just on the line.
Faisalabad also came close to scoring in the 11th minute but Mohammad Rizwan's connection rattled the upright.
Waqas Ahmad finally drew first blood with an opportunist strike from the left in the 15th minute.
The winners went 2-0 up through a penalty stroke but it was not a deserved goal as Mohammad Tauseeq's week and unimpressive try bounced off Islamabad goalkeeper into the goal.
Islamabad got their consolation goal through Imtiaz in the 28th minute, while Rizwan sealed the fate of the match for Faisalabad with a strike in the 56th minute.
After rest on Thursday, Lahore face Faisalabad in the final at 9.00pm, while Islamabad play Sialkot in the third-place playoff at 5.00pm on Friday.
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