The 7th HBL Karachi United Schools Championship 2011-12 saw the completion of its quarter-finals stage on 15th January 2012. Last year’s finalists Karachi Grammar School and Southshore School bowed out of the competition as Nixor College, The City School PAF Chapter, St. Patrick’s High School, and Aga Khan Higher Secondary School won their respective ties to qualify for semis.
Nixor College smashed Southshore School 3-0 while TCS PAF upset KGS with a narrow 2-1 win. AKHSS and St Pats then won their respective ties on penalties by overcoming Lyceum School and Commecs College respectively.
The semi-finals will be played on 20 January while final will be on 22 January 2012 at Baloch Mujahid Stadium in Ibrahim Hyderi, Karachi. The semi-finals and final will be telecast live on Geo Super at 3 PM, a historic occasion for a school-level football tournament getting national coverage for the first time in Pakistan.
The 1st quarter-final saw Nixor College face tough test in opening 10 minutes as Southshore’s strike force of Shahzeb Khan, Bilal Naqi, Saad Nadeem, and Saim Ali troubled Nixor’s defensive line of Muzammil Farishta, Usama Halim, and Muneeb Tabani. However, Nixor won a penalty in 17th minute against the run of play after a foul by Southshore’s Rizwan, which Muzammil Farishta duly converted to give his side a 1-0 lead.
The goal deflated the Southshore side as Nixor College started to dominate the game, making it 2-0 just 2 minutes later when Muneeb Tabani score from a Noor Rehman freekick, and then Shehryar Paracha making it 3-0 after a nice solo effort in 30th minute. Nixor College maintained their lead for the rest of the game to knockout Southshore from the KUSC semi-final race.
The 2nd quarter-final saw Karachi Grammar School being stunned because of poor goalkeeping performance as The City School PAF won a shock 2-1 in the end. KGS got off to a great start when Atif Sachak scored from a Muneeb Anjum freekick after just 7 minutes, but barely a minute had passed when TCS PAF winger Muhammad Afridi’s speculative cross was completely missed by KGS goalkeeper Usama Naeem to make it 1-1. The howler caused KGS to change keepers as Saad Ahmed took place of Usama, but even that proved to be useless as Saad failed to properly stop a Shabbir Ali Rizvi shot that gave TCS PAF a 2-1 lead in 2nd half. This was Shabbir Ali Rizvi’s 8th goal of the KUSC 2011-12 as he became tournament top scorer. KGS failed to recover from these goalkeeping mistakes as the former winners bowed out of the competition.
The 3rd and 4th quarter-finals were decided on penalties. Lyceum School failed to bury numerous chances as Aga Khan Higher Secondary School held on to a 0-0 draw at the end of normal and extra time periods, forcing a penalty shoot out. AKHSS kept their nerve as they knocked out Lyceum 4-2 on penalties to qualify for semi-finals.
The last quarter-final was a topsy turvy affair between St. Patrick’s High School and Commecs College. St Pats’ captain Ahmed Baig gave his side the lead with a well-taken effort, but Commecs College equalised through a Awais Ali penalty in 43rd minute. The 1-1 score did not change at end of final whistle, forcing extra time. Commecs College made it 2-1 through Hussain Tayyab in 62nd minute but Daniyal Mehmood equalised for St Pats in 71st minute as extra-time gave way to penalties. Commecs College failed to convert any of their penalties while St. Patrick’s High School converted all 3 of theirs to win the game 3-0 in the shoot-out.
Referees were Adnan Khan, Habibullah, Babar Khan, Shaukat Ali, Chaudhary Sarfraz, Farrukh Riaz, and match commissioner Abdul Karim.
7th HBL KUSC 2011-12 Semi-finals (20 Jan 2012):
Nixor College vs Aga Khan Higher Secondary School
The City School PAF vs St. Patrick’s High School