LAHORE - Pakistan Army annexed PFF National Women Football Championship 2018 trophy after beating Wapda 3-0 in a thrilling final played here at the Punjab Stadium on Thursday.

Army scored opened their account in 41st minute of the match but the electric women scored an impressive equalizer just after 3 minutes to make it 1-1. Both the teams then fought hard to grab the much-needed lead but their defenders remained steadfast enough to deny all the attacks of their each other and when the final whistle was blown, the score was tied at 1-1.

The referee then awarded penalty kicks to both the teams to decide the final. Army players succeeded in converting three while Wapda players failed to convert a single one, thus Army emerged as title winners with 3-0 victory.

Honourable Chief Justice Saqib Nisar graced the final as chief guest and distributed prizes among the winning teams and top performers. Army team was awarded Rs 300,000 and runners-up Wapda received Rs 200,000 while the best player Khadija of Army and the best scorer Masooma Chaudhry of MTFA earned Rs 40,000 each, the best goalkeeper Mahpara of Wapda got Rs 30,000 while Punjab team was awarded with fair play trophy.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Justice Saqib Nisar congratulated PFF President Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat and the organisers for conducting the event in a successful manner. "I am pleased to see the young generation celebrating the sports. I have decided to come for national women event when the men's national team met me to donate for dams’ fund. I urge private sector to come forward to support Pakistan football and especially women football."

The PFF chief thanked the Chief Justice for his time and presence at the prestigious women team final. He said: "Pakistan football is heading towards right direction. The women football is one of the priorities of the federation, and with sincere and collective efforts, we will take it to new heights.

“We are also keen to improve the standard of Pakistan football, which suffered a lot due to the three years of turmoil, which hurt the entire Pakistan football community especially the players and officials. Now after getting back the PFF, we are committed to conduct maximum national activities and prepare our national teams for international events under qualified foreign coaches, so that they may compete against the best in the business and gradually improve their games and world rankings. I am also grateful to FIFA and AFC for their all-out support to PFF and hope their patronage and guidance will help us do wonders for Paksitan football,” he added.