SEC enters final

Chennai: South East Central Railway (SEC) booked its spot in the finals of the All-India Railway men’s hockey championship with a 1-0 win over South Central Railway here on Wednesday. Imran Sheikhand’s field goal 11 minutes into the second half was enough to separate the two sides in the semifinal encounter.

South Central could have been a goal up midway through the first half when Prabakar Singh somehow managed to send the ball skywards, yards away from the open goalmouth. At the other end, custodian Pfokrelo made three point blank saves in a matter of seconds for South Central to keep the scores level even as SEC benefited from pushing its men forward consistently.

That proved to be the decisive factor, as a scoop was expertly trapped on the right flank and the ensuing cross was turned in by a lunging Sheikhand to put SEC one up in the second half.

The results:

South East Central 1 (Imran Sheikhand) bt South Central 0.