Doha: Al Shamal qualified for the main draw of the Amir Cup with a 2-1 win over fellow Second Division side Mesaimeer at Abdullah bin Khalifa stadium yesterday.

The Amir Cup, the main draw of which will be held at a gala ceremony this week, is the most prestigious domestic football competition and brings down the curtains on the nine-month long football season in Qatar.

The event offers a chance to lower division teams to test their mettle against the big guns in a bid to be present in the final on May 16.

Al Shamal were clearly the dominant side yesterday as they made their intentions clear right from the start and tested the Mesaimeer defenses at regular intervals.

But after going close on a number of occasions, Mesaimeer were able to break through only in the 18th minute with Mohamed Hassan scored with a powerful right-footed shot from just inside the penalty area. In the rest of the first half, Al Shamal hardly made their presence felt in terms of goal-worthy moves and in a sense were fortunate to go down by just one goal.

But it was Al Shamal’s Abdulaziz Al Meqbali who stole the show in the second half; two goals from the Oman international proved enough to propel the northern side to the next round.

Al Meqbali equalized for Al Shamal just five minutes inside the second half, as he pounced on a Fred Dabenka shot to deflect the ball past Mesaimeer’s keeper Hassan Ali.

The Shamal trio of Meqbali, Mousa al-Alaq and Dhabaan Nabil constantly threatened the Mesaimeer defense with some clever thinking and crisp passing. They were rewarded a penalty on 86 minutes when Mesiameer’s defender Abdulaziz Al Gumaie charged Dhabaan Nabil inside the box, Abdulaziz Al Meqbali converted from the spot to seal the game for coach Darko Novic’s side.

In the next round, the top three teams of the Second Division in addition to Al Shamal will vie against clubs that finished from ninth to twelfth (9-12) in the QNB Stars League. Matches will be held at Thani bin Jassim Stadium and Grand Hamad Stadium on 20-21 April 2019.