Former champs Indian Oil, Mumbai rode on veteran Prabhjot Singh’s twin strikes to put it across a fighting Punjab & Sind Bank (PSB), Delhi 4-3 in a keenly contested quarter-final match of the Union Bank of India & IDBI Bank-51st All India Bombay Gold Cup Hockey Tournament, organized by the Mumbai Hockey Association Limited (MHAL) under the auspices of Hockey India and played at the MHAL-Mahindra Stadium on Sunday evening.
Ace drag-flicker, V.R. Raghunath and Kothajit Singh got the other two goals for the oilmen, while the Punjab bankers scored through Harsahib Singh, Sarvanjit Singh and Mandeep Singh.
Indian Oil captain Deepak Thakur (right) is tackled by a Punjab National Bank defender during their quarter-final match
Earlier in the day, South Central Railway, Secundrabad rolled out a steady performance to tame a subdued Central Railway 6-3 in another quarter-final encounter.
Indian Oil will take on Punjab National Bank in the second semi-final, while South Central will meet CAG in the first semi-final on Tuesday afternoon.
PSB started well and grabbed the lead through Harsahib who made no mistake after receiving Sarvanjit Singh square pass from the right in the ninth minute. But, two minutes Raghunath, who captained India during the four-nation tournament and the two-match test series in Australia last month, finally found success from the fourth penalty corner to level scores. Later, the seasoned Olympian Prabhjot scored twice from field effort on either side of the break to give the Oilmen a 3-1 lead. Later, Kothajit Singh who was also with the Indian team in Australia got the fourth goal from a brilliant finish in the 52nd minute.
PSB not prepared to throw in the towel managed to score two goals through Sarvanjit Singh and Mandeep Singh in the remaining period to give their team some hope of drawing level. But they failed to get the crucial fourth goal which would have taken the game to the penalty shootout.
In the first match, the southern outfit showed good understanding and displayed better cohesion to make inroads into the opposition’s danger zone. In contrast the Mumbai side were a totally disjointed lot and lacked creativity which proved to be their downfall.
South Central took the lead when M.G. Poonacha capitalized on a defensive lapse before cutting into the circle and to flick past Central goalkeeper Avdhuth Solankar in the 4th minute. Central immediately replied back when Mohd. Nizamuddin scored from the rebound of goalkeeper Sushant Tirkey’s pads following Narad Bahadur’s penalty attempt in the 6th minute.
In the 12th minute South Central regained the lead when sub-junior India captain Sanjeeb Nelam Xess made a good solo run down the middle of the field before relaying the ball to Sandeep Kumar who beat Solankar with an angular hit. Xess got on the scoresheet when he converted from a short corner in the 3rd minute as South Central went into the break with a 3-1 advantage.
South Central totally controlled the proceedings in the second session and created the better chances and converted from three. First, Raju Pal scored with a snap reverse hit from an acute angle from the left before P.R. Ayappa struck two quick goals (59th & 60th minutes) to knock the fight out off the Mumbai side. Having gained a 5-goal cushion (6-1 lead), South Central relaxed the pace which allowed Central to strike two goals through Deepak Lakra and Reuben Kadri to reduce the margin of defeat.
Monday is a ‘Rest Day’. On Tuesday, South Central Railway will face off against CAG in the first semi-final at 4.00 pm followed by the second semi-final to be played between Punjab National Bank and Indian Oil.
Results (quarter-finals): South Central Railway, Secundrabad 6 (M.G. Poonacha 4th, Sandeep Kumar 12th, Sanjeep Nelam Xess 33rd, Raju Pal 46th, P.R. Ayappa 59th, 60th) beat Central Railway, Mumbai 3 (Mohd. Nizamuddin 6th, Deepak Lakra 64th, Reuben Kedari 67th).
Indian Oil (V.R. Raghunath 11th, Prabhjot Singh 35th, 47th, Kothajit Singh 52nd) beat Punjab & Sind Bank 3 (Harsahib Singh 9th, Sarvanjit Singh 60th, Mandeep Singh 62nd).
Tuesday schedule (semi-final matches):
4.00 pm: Central Railway, Mumbai vs South Central Railway, Secundrabad.
6.00 pm: Punjab & Sind Bank, Delhi vs Indian Oil, Mumbai.