Al Khaldiya drew first blood after only four minutes when Dhurgham Ismael’s cross from the left was allowed to run all the way through to Komail Al Aswad at the far post to apply the finish from close range.

The Bahraini side continued to dominate and went close to a second seven minutes later when Ismael produced yet another inviting cross which was met with an Igor Torres header, only this time Mohammed Raheem was able to catch the ball.

Play turned scrappy thereafter until the half-time break with neither side able to fashion any credible chances.

There were encouraging signs for Air Force at the start of the second half when Alaa Abbas’ scorcher from long range had Ammar Mohammed diving frantically to his right but to the custodian’s relief, the ball just missed the mark.

Air Force’s confidence was quickly taken away in the 52nd minute when Raheem spilled a catch, with Al Aswad relaying the ball for Ismael to finish into an unguarded goalmouth against his former side.

Al Khaldiya tightened their control four minutes later when Al Aswad got his second of the night, beating the offside trap before smartly chipping the ball past the advancing Raheem.

Air Force pulled one back through Abbas in the 79th minute but Al Khaldiya confirmed their victory when Al Aswad tucked away a 90th minute spot-kick to seal his hat-trick.

Next up for Al Khaldiya is a meeting with Al Taawoun that could determine the group winners while Air Force will seek to rebound against Altyn Asyr FC of Turkmenistan.