Manama - BNA
Isa Town yesterday won their opening game in the First Khalid bin Hamad Youth Centres Football League , being held at Hamad Town Youth Centre grounds. In Group ‘A’ Isa Town recorded an emphatic 5-1 victory over Arad, giving their title bid a crucial boost. After a goalless first-half, substitute Abdulla Al Malki gave the victors the lead in the 70th minute, then another substitute Hassan Buchiri doubled Isa Town\'s advantage five minutes later. Rashid Al Ruwaie, who also came on the field in the second-half, made it 3-0 in the 77th minute, then Hussain Kazerooni fired the fourth on 83 minutes. Mohammed Ahmed scored the only goal for Arad two minutes later, but Buchiri completed his double and the fifth goal for Isa Town in the last minute of injury time. In another match, the Central Governorate registered an exciting 2-1 victory over the Bahrain Youth Hostels in Group ‘B’. In a neck-and-neck encounter, the Central Governorate began their title quest with a crucial win in this four-team group. They took firm control on the midfield in the early stages and created several inroads with some accurate passing and high pace skills. Things got even worse for the Bahraini Youth Hostels who played the match with 10 minute since the 30th minute when Mahmood Al Asfoor committed a harsh foul on a Central Governorate player. Despite having less men on the field, the Bahraini Youth Hostels took a surprising lead 20 minutes into the second-half through Khalifa Khalid with a superb solo effort. Central Governorate pressed forward and they finally found the breakthrough in the last eight minutes as they put the scores back level, thanks to substitute Ghaith Rashid who evaded the entire defence and fired into the back of the net. And after a string of dangerous attempts, Central Governorate found the winner in the last minute from a free-kick, well taken by Mohammed Mubarak, whose shot went between the hands of Bahraini Youth Hostels goalkeeper Waleed Juma. Meanwhile, the first round of matches concludes today with two matches in Group \'D\' as Zayed City take on Hamad Town at 5pm. It will be followed by Al Shakhoora vs Al Zallaq tie. Sixteen teams are taking part in the first edition cup, and were divided into four groups of four squads. Group ‘A’ comprises East Riffa, Al Jasra, Al Buhair, and Muharraq, while Group ‘B’ features Youth Hostels, Central Governorate, Arad and Isa Town. Safra, Salmabad, Al Janoob and Busaiteen were placed in Group ‘C’, while Group ‘D’ consists of Zayed Town, Hamad Town, Shakhoora and Zallaq. The tournament is being organized by the General Organization for Youth and Sports (Goys), patronised by First Vice-Chairman of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa and sponsored by GPIC.