JEDDAH, 23 May 2003 — A sea of green erupted in joy at the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium here yesterday as Ibrahim Suwaid scored a golden goal in the dying moments of the second extra session to give Al-Ahli a thrilling 3-2 victory over Al-Qadisiya of Dammam in the King Fahd Cup Soccer Tournament.

The step-ladder round-robin second phase encounter had all the hallmarks of a nail-biting event with the players writing and re-writing the script to provide some brilliant twists and turns in the match. Ahli, following this last-gasp winner, now meet Al-Ittihad in the final. And the clash of the Jeddah titans, the third time in six years, is sure to produce fireworks. Ittihad, however, would be rested and doubly confident as they had beaten Ahli on both the occasions earlier.

Ahli began on the offensive and took control of the midfield and strung out a series of attacks that rattled Qadisiya. The Dammam team, however, tried to rely on swift counters to break Ahli’s hold but this too foundered on the class midfield act by Ahli.

Suwaid, who had a great game, showed that it was to be his day when in the 25th minute he outpaced the Qadisiya defense with a clinical solo run only to muff the chance, as the shot skimmed the crossbar, with only the goalkeeper to beat.

Ironically, despite Ahli covering the ground superbly, it was Qadisiya who took the lead. In the 27th minute a midfield clearance split the Ahli defense. Defenders Naif Al-Qadi and Khaled Badra were slow to respond, hoping the other would clear the threat, and the ball was latched on to by Saeed Al-Wadhani. With a clear look at the Ahli citadel, he redirected the ball into the goal as Ahli keeper Tayysir Al-Nitef charged in a valiant but vain bid.

Ahli again held sway in possession and territorial advantage, but had nothing to show for all their effort during this half and the teams switched ends with Qadisiya holding a slim 1-0 edge. Ahli’s defense once again let the team down when in the 53rd minute a near-replica scene of the first goal was enacted. A defensive lapse was taken advantage of by Wadhani, who broke through an ineffective offside trap. With only Nitef at his mercy, Wadhani slotted home to put Qadisiya in a near-solid 2-0 lead.

Two tactical changes by Ahli coach Elia soon after this goal changed the course of the match. He removed defenders Muhammad Sheleya and Walid Abdu Rabboo and put in attackers Walid Al-Jezani and Bushayeb Limbarki.

This paid dividends quickly for in the 64th minute a brilliant pass by Fahd Zahrani to Muhammad Barakat inside the Qadisiya box saw the latter lift the ball over a defender, beat another to the lob before essaying a neat volley home. And Limbarki netted the equalizer in the 76th minute to bring the game back on even keel.

Zahrani, who had a hand in the first Ahli goal, again was the provider. After a run down the left flank, Zahrani sent in a shallow diagonal pass to Limbarki, who evaded two Qadisiya defenders with an outward loop before coming into the box and racing goalward. His shot on the run proved too swift for Qadisiya goalkeeper to stop.

Qadisiya’s luck ran out when they were reduced to ten with one of their midfielder leaving the field following an injury. Qadisiya could not substitute this player because they had already used up their quota of three by the time the injury happened.

With the game going to extra time, Qadisiya had fleeting moments of attack as they concentrated on taking the match to the set of penalties with some stout defending. Ahli were kept at bay for the first extra period, but managed to swing the match with a golden effort late in the day.

Ali Al-Zobaidy, an ardent Ahli supporter, was in raptures following Ahli’s success. He said: “The two best teams are in the final and that’s how it should be. Now we believe we have the best team and will win the trophy.”

Hassan Al-Adawi, an Ittihadi fan, was also happy for Ahli yesterday when they qualified for the Jeddah derby. He said: “It is a joyous moment for Ahli and its fans. Ittihad, however, will repeat their earlier successes over Ahli in this tournament with yet another defeat.”