A goal fest was witnessed as a total of 38 goals were scored in three Pool-B matches at the MHAL-Mahindra Stadium, Churchgate on Friday.
Central Secretariat, having recently recruited some young talented players, made were the most impressive as they outshone former champions Western Railway and went on to record a fluent 9-3 win in the third match played under lights.
MHAL President, Mangha Singh Bakshi (right) presents the ‘Man-of-the-match’ award to Central Secretariat custodian Naveen Kumar.
Earlier, formidable outfits, Air India and ONGC (Oil & Natural Gas Corporation), both started their campaign in rollicking fashion by completely outplaying their opponents. Both the heavyweights, registered identical 12-1 victories against BEG (Bombay Engineering Group) and SAI (Sports Authority of India) respectively.
Oft-crowned champions Air India, who had finished runners-up to Indian Oil last season dished out a pleasing performance to enjoy total dominance against the team from the army and raced to a 6-0 half-time lead.
Leading the Air India charge was seasoned forward Joga Singh and Aiyappa P.R., both hammering home four goals apiece. Prabodh Tirkey scored two from penalty corners while Arjun Halappa and Pawan Kumar added one each to complete the demolition. BEG’s fleet-footed forward Abung Singh scored the lone consolation goal for his team.
Earlier in the afternoon, ONGC also enjoyed smooth sailing against an unorganised SAI outfit and scored at regular intervals to open up a 4-1 half-time lead. They increased the pace in the second half to score 8 more goals to complete the margin of victory. For ONGC Jagwant Singh scored three goals, while Gurvinder Singh Chandi, Diwakar Ram, Tyron Pereira and P.P. Macheiah, all four contributed two goals each and Sandeep Antil struck one to seal their win. Prateek netted the only goal for SAI.
The Secretariat team showed plenty of promise and once they settled down they ran through the Western defence and scored their goals through Pradhan Somanna, S.S. Bundela, Gunasekar, and Jayesh Jadhav, all chipping in with two goals each, while Ashishek Singh scored one. Central Secretariat goalkeeper Naveen Kumar proved a hard nut to crack as Western Railway only manahed to score three goals through Amit Rohidass, Sanklap Raghav and Vinod Kumar.
Results
Pool-B: ONGC 12 (Gurvinder Singh Chandi 6th, 68th, Diwakar Ram 9th, 21st, Jagwant Singh 25th, 52nd, 64th, Tyron Pereira 40th, 42nd, Sandeep Antil 51st, P.P. Macheiah 62nd, 65th) beat SAI 1 (Prateek 32nd). Man-of-the-match: P.P. Macheiah (ONGC).
Pool-B: Air India 12 (Arjun Halappa 15th, Joga Singh 18th, 46th, 64th, 65th, Aiyappa P.R. 25th, 30th, 35th, 37th, Prabodh Tirkey 35th, 57th, Pawan Kumar 59th) beat BEG 1 (Abung Singh 40th). Man-of-the-match: Aiyappa P.R. (Air India).
Pool-B: Central Secretariat 9 (Pradhan Somanna 11th, 38th, S.S. Bundela 14th, 66th, Gunasekar 28th, 58th, Jayesh Jadhav 39th, 57th, Ashishek Singh 56th) beat Western Railway 3 (Amit Rohidass 17th, Sanklap Raghav 35th, Vinod Kumar 69th). Man-of-the-match: Naveen Kumar (Central Secretariat).
Saturday fixtures
2.30 pm: Indian Oil vs Rhema Sports (Pool-A).
4.15 pm: Namdhari XI vs Abhi Foundation (Pool-A).
5.30 pm: Central Railway vs P.N. Bank (Pool-A).