Any glimmer of hope that Indian Bank had of scripting a fairy tale finish was snuffed out emphatically by a well-knit Army XI in the final of the IOB-Syed Ahmed memorial all-India hockey tournament, co-sponsored by Nissan, here on Sunday.
The evening well and truly belonged to the Army XI as they clinched the trophy with a resounding 6-2 triumph over Indian Bank, who ran out of steam towards the end after acquitting themselves well in the first-half.
The odds of Indian Bank causing an upset were rather slim but they gave Army XI more than a scare in the opening few exchanges.
Outside right Sunil Ekka of Army XI, who will look back on this tournament fondly for having made an invaluable contribution to his team’s glittering run, proved to be the difference between the two teams.
After being guilty of spurning an easy chance in the fifth minute, Ekka didn’t take long to redeem himself as in the very next minute he put his team ahead from a close range by nudging the ball in. Instead of clearing the ball, the Indian Bank full-backs were caught napping.
Indian Bank would have soon found themselves trailing by another goal had it not been for the superlative effort of their goal-keeper Barani Raja, who showed a good presence of mind by padding away a powerful shot struck by Poovanna in the ninth minute.
Barani Raja was later adjudged man-of-the-match for his consistent performances throughout the tournament.
Thereafter, the bank team captain Phillip Martin took matters into his own hands and combined with Heartlin James to score an absolute peach of a goal in the 10th minute to make it
1-1.
James made a perceptive pass by dribbling past his two markers and after cutting in from the far left, sent an inch-perfect ball to Martin, who did the rest by wrong-footing the goalkeeper. Army XI very nearly took the lead soon but luck seemed to have deserted them as Reniel Singh’s short corner missed the target by a whisker.
The Bengaluru team were not to be denied of a lead for a long time. Mukesh Lakra put them ahead off a PC in the 18th minute. Indian Bank responded immediately through Deepak, also from a short corner, as the teams entered the break at 2-2.
In the second-half things took a different turn altogether as two goals in quick succession by the Army XI effectively killed the game as a contest.
Army team came out all guns blazing to score four goals without reply and Indian Bank’s resistance began to crumble in the face of sustained pressure. It was an anti-climactic end to a match that at the end of first-half had the makings of a cliffhanger.
Result
Final: Army XI 6 (Sunil Ekka 2, Chittaranjan, Eliazek Lakara, Arumugam, Mukesh Lakra) bt Indian Bank 2 (Phillip Martin, Deepak).
MoM: Barani Raja (IB).