Joma seal third spot with late winner

Joma clinched third spot with a hard-fought 3-2 win over the Mohammad Bin Ali Team in the third place play-off in the Seventh Maktoum Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Football Championship, being played at the Dubai Police Officers Club.

In Tuesday’s fight for third place, it was Ali Ghuloom delivering the final blow when he struck in the final minute to give Joma victory.

Salem Hassan opened the scoring on a cool night when he tapped in from close range in the ninth minute. Mohammad Malallah doubled the advantage when he drove in from the top of the box in the 16th minute. But the Mohammad Bin Ali Team managed to pull one back just before half-time when Maher Jasem headed in a cross from the left.

Game opens up

In the second half, Joma threw in an extra defender in a bid to preserve their lead. They managed to do so until the 34th minute before Saud Saif poked home from a wellbuilt attack from the right flank. That opened up the game and it was Ali Ghuloom signing off with a matchwinner with a few seconds left on the clock.

Held under the patronage of Shaikh Mohammad Bin Maktoum Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the annual tournament has a total purse of Dh750,000. The event attracted 20 UAE teams with the final between hosts Khamis Al Mazeina team and Bin Darwish scheduled for Wednesday night.

The UAE and Al Ahli midfielder Majid Hassan, who was the stand-in coach for Joma, was pleased with third spot. “This team was an experiment and an experience for me. Our focus was to build a team from locallyavailable talent, and I think we did well,” Hassan told Gulf News.