By Sahan Bidapa/Doha

In a match where both teams were not even close to their best, the one-all draw was perhaps a fair result. In what could be attributed to rustiness, Al Shamal and Al Kharaitiat were sloppy on the field in their season-opener, with the sweltering conditions at the Fort Stadium yesterday not helping their cause.
But for the most part, Al Shamal would have thought they had made a winning start in their return to the Qatar Stars League, after a gap of four seasons. After a nervous few moments, where Al Kharaitiyat threatened to take the lead, Al Shamal settled down to make their way into the rival post.
And they hit the bull’s eye in the very first attempt.
In the 22nd minute, Qatar’s Ali Mejbel made a clever back-heel pass to Nadim Mohamed and the unmarked defender curled in a perfect left-footed shot to the left of the net, to completely flummox Al Kharaitiat goalkeeper Khalifa Ababacar and give Al Shamal a 1-0 lead.
The dream start for Silvio Diliberto’s side was likely to occur when Abdulaziz al-Ansari came onto the field.
The Qatari forward replaced Mohamed Salam in the 75th minute field and in no time he made the difference.
In the 82st minute, Al Shamal goalkeeper Haitham al-Ashiri brilliantly palmed off Ansari’s shot over the post. But the resultant corner produced a goal.
Al-Ashiri once again cleared the ball from the corner but it fell into Ansari’s lap, who found the back of the net with ease from his right foot for the Al Kharaitiyat equalizer.
With a spring in their step, Al Kharaitiat created a few chances but with sapping humidity taking a toll on their bodies, both the teams laboured towards a stalemate.
While, Al Shamal would be disappointed and Al Kharaitiat relived with the draw, the game also showed up weaknesses in their defence. Both teams gave too much space to the forwards, but it’s another matter that they failed to cash in with goals.
Al Shamal coach Diliberto gave the captain’s armband to Moumouni Dagano, who joined them from Al Sailiya this season. But the Burkina Faso forward was poor on the field, wasting clutch of chances.