Continuing with their fine run of winning form, high-flying Air India enjoyed further success when they handed Western Railway a 3-1 defeat for their fourth win on the trot in Pool-B of the MHAL (Mumbai Hockey Association Limited) Super Division League 2015 and played at the MHAL-Mahindra Stadium, Churchgate on Saturday evening.
Air India captian Shivendra Singh converted a penalty in the 15th minute and Joga Singh got the second in the 35th minute. Western netted the lone goal also from a penalty stroke which was converted by Amit Rohidass in the 48th minute. Shiverndra scored an insurance goal for Air India in the 60th minute as Western threatened to make a fight.
Earlier, consistent scorer Jagwant Singh’s twin strikes helped ONGC (Oil & Natural Gas Corporation) pulled off a narrow 2-1 win against Central Secretariat in another Pool-B encounter.
After a barren first half, Jagwant broke the deadlock when he scored the opening in the very second minute on resumption. Central Secretariat managed to find a late equaliser through Navneet Swarnkar’s goal in the 66th minute. But three minutes later Jagwat scored once again to secure ONGC’s fourth win in the pool. The oilmen, who had lost 4-6 to Western Railway in the earlier round, now have 12 points the same as Air India.
In the first match of the day, Union Bank of India riding of penalty corner specialist Harjit Singh two successful conversions stormed to a 4-2 win against BEG (Bombay Engineering Group) in a Pool-B match.
Jagwant Singh (ONGC), Harjit Singh (Union Bank) and Sheshegowda (Air India) were declared the ‘Man-of-the-match’ in their respective matches and all three received a cash award of Rs 1,000 each.
Results
Pool-B: ONGC 2 (Jagwant Singh 37th, 69th) beat Central Secretariat 1 (Navneet Swarnkar 66th). Man-of-the-match: Jagwant Singh (ONGC).
Pool-B: Union Bank of India 4 (Nitin Kumar 13th, Harjit Singh 53rd, 62nd, B.K. Muthanna 69th) beat BEG 2 (Rajendra Ekka 24th, Jerong Guriya 41st). Man-of-the-match: Harjit Singh (Union Bank).
Pool-B: Air India 3(Shivendra Singh 15th–PS, 60th, Joga Singh 35th) beat Western Railway 1 (Amit Rohidass 48th–PS). Man-of-the-match: Sheshegowda (Air India).
Sunday’s fixtures
2.00 pm, Namdhari XI vs Indian Navy (Pool-A).
3.45 pm, PNB vs Indian Oil (Pool-A).
5.30 pm, Union Bank of India vs Western Railway (Pool-A).