- Week Twelve kicked off the playoffs, Ihsan defeated Ikhlas in the wildcard game that featured a close finish, the SemiFinals saw Haya squeak out a 1-0 win over Shukr while Emaan dominated Ihsan to win Game One of their series.
- The night opened with Ihsan winning the wildcard game, a win guaranteed by Ahmad Hathout. Ihsan held a 1-0 lead at the half and built a commanding 4-0 lead before Ikhlas suddenly found their groove scoring three goals in under six minutes to make it 4-3 with 1:59 left. Some careless penalties from Ihsan give Ikhlas a powerplay for the final minutes and but did enough to hold on for the win.
- Haya managed to grind out a 1-0 win over Shukr in a game where the goalies were both strong. Coach K came in with a plan to contain Waqar Khan and post game pointed to his success in that regard as Khan was held pointless. In the final minute, Shukr pulled their goalie and was buzzing around the net but some critical blocked shots by Farrukh Khan who sacrificed his body kept Shukr from converting a goalmouth opportunity.
- Emaan had their top line dominate Ihsan over the course of the game, Ihsan did hold 1-0 and 2-1 leads but were not able to shut down Emaan’s offence and were under siege in the second half. Ihsan attributed their struggles to tired legs having just come off their wildcard game but they will have to play a perfect game if they want to compete in Game Two against Emaan.
- Haya has been up and down offensively of late and with Shukr’s Coach K having success in containing the top line for Haya, it was Shoaib Bhatti who provided the games only goal. The veteran pulled a crafty move as he scooped a pass from Huzaifa Shahid from behind the net and quickly stepped out front and snapped it in before Shukr goalie Yasir Hussain could get across.
- Ihsan has a mountain to climb against Emaan, not helping the cause is the play of Amir Multani, the gifted forward seemed lost in both playoff games last week and if he cannot get in gear then Ihsan is not going to have any chance to win.
- Haya suffered another injury against Shukr last week, when they met in the last week of the regular season, Rayhan Malik’s season was ended with a slash from Aazar Zafar that broke his toe. Last week Ozair Naveed was cut down and is going to miss the rest of the playoffs with a fracture in his foot.
- Coach K reportedly took the video of his teams game against Haya to review it in detail, his defensive schemes were strong and they limited Haya to just 14 shots but he wanted to plan a strategy on breaking down Haya’s defence having been shutout.
- Emaan vs Ihsan also featured a battle between family as Akif Waheed faced off against Zain Khilji. While Khilji saw his team get the win, Waheed scored a personal victory as late in the game he caught Khilji with his head down in the middle and laid him out. Waheed seemed to soak it in with Humza Waheed and Asim Waheed cheering from the stands.
- Sadiq Rehman made an appearance last week as the goalie came down to watch some playoff action. He was expected to backstop Sabr to the post season but an ankle injury caused by a wrestling mishap with Wahhaj Salam ended his season prematurely and contributed to the struggles for Sabr as they missed the playoffs.
- Most players grow a beard during the playoff season - not really practical for this league where many players already sport facial hair. Waqar Khan went a different direction by shaving his head and prior to Haya’s win, Umair Ashraf was caught trying to rub Khan’s head for good luck.
- It is well known that Ahmad Hathout prefers to be referred to as his alter ego, Batman or the Dark Knight, but he has now started to give nicknames to teammates in an attempt to motivate them - or he doesn’t remember their names and he finds this easier. Ahmad Ibrahim is now Bane (presumably for his physical strength) while Mohammed Hamoud is Deadshot (his big slap-shot speaks for itself), Amir Multani has been monikered the Riddler.
- A Twitter Poll was created and those who voted were correct in two of the three results. Fans picked Ihsan to upset Ikhlas and Emaan to defeat the winner of Ikhlas/Ihsan which both were bang on. The third poll saw Shukr get picked to defeat Haya and were it not for the heroics of Kaunain Saiyed the polls could have been a clean sweep.
Player of the Game Video’s:
Ikhlas vs Ihsan - Mohammed Hamoud (not available)
Haya vs Shukr - Kaunain Saiyed with a shutout in Haya's win over Shukr
Emaan vs Ihsan - Yousuf Sowdagar (not available)
Video Recaps:
Ikhlas vs Ihsan (pending)
Haya vs Shukr (pending)
Emaan vs Ihsan (pending)
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