Reigning champions Indian Oil rode on Roshan Minz’s fine hat-trick to steal a 5-3 win against Indian Navy in a closely contested Pool-A match of the MHAL (Mumbai Hockey Association Limited) Super Division League 2015 and played at the MHAL-Mahindra Stadium, Churchgate on Monday.
Olympian Darryl D’Souza (right) hands over the ‘Man-of-the-match’ award to Pawan Kumar of Air India
Sunil Yadav and Deepak Thakur got the other two goals for the oilmen who were not all that impressive. Indian Navy who played with grit and determination managed to score through the efforts of Suman Kindo, Faheem Khan and Ved Prakash. This was the first win for Indian Oil who had drawn 2-2 with Rhema Sports in their opening fixture.
In the first match of the day, Punjab National Bank (PNB) after leading 1-0 at half-time, pumped in four more goals in the second session to register a comfortable 5-0 win against Abhi Foundation. PNB skipper and penalty corner specialist Jitender Saroha converted three penalty corners in the 12th, 53rd and 68th minutes, while teammates Jugraj Singh from another short corner in the 59th minute and Hardeep Singh 64th minute got the other two goals.
Jitender Saroha (Punjab National Bank), won the ‘Man-of-the-match’ awards in their respective matches and all four received a cash award of Rs 1,000 each.
Later in a Pool-B match played in the evening under lights, Air India recorded a tactical 1-0 win against Central Secretariat for their third success in the competition. Pawan Kumar scored the all-important winning goal in the 10th minute. Central Secretariat fought well and worked hard but poor finishing let them down.
Results
Pool-A: Punjab National Bank 5 (Jitender Saroha 12th, 53rd, 68th, Jugraj Singh 59th, Hardeep Singh 64th) beat Abhi Foundation 0. Man-of-the-match: Jitender Saroha (Punjab National Bank).
Pool-A: Indian Oil 5 (Roshan Minz 6th, 47th, 59th, Sunil Yadav 31st, Deepak Thakur 62nd) beat Indian Navy 3 (Suman Kindo 7th, Faheem Khan 29th, Ved Prakash 39th). Man-of-the-match: Roshan Minz (Indian Oil).
Pool-B: Air India (Pawan Kumar 10th) beat Central Secretariat 0. Man-of-the-match: Pawan Kumar (Air India).