Printed Article. Courtesy : Ravi Dhaliwal in Tribune, Chandigarh
Patiala, December 27: Punjab Police in their endeavour to take a shot at the title for a record eleventh time, took too many risks, left far too many gaping holes in their defence and fell to the ground with a thud, losing to EME, Jalandhar 0-1 in a semifinal match of the 33rd All-India Liberals hockey tournament.
In the other last four match, holders BSF out stroked CISF 12-11, in an epic sudden death, which threatened to go on till eternity under a fast fading sun.
EME downed Punjab cops in what may be termed as the biggest upset of the tournament so far. However, this one goal victory margin does not exactly mirror the domination of the game EME had as they earned nine penalty corners as compared to the two their rivals managed and they also enjoyed more territorial supremacy than the cops.
Pre-match favourites Punjab Police played a totally disjointed game and repeatedly jeopardised their defence by virtually keeping it man-less for long periods of time.
EME forced as many four penalty corners in the first 20 minutes of the match and this in itself proves how much the rival defence lacked coherence. Midway into the first half the army men came close to scoring when M. Horo relayed the ball to an unmarked Amit Tirkey. However, once he was in sight of the goal, Tirkey fumbled and the ball was kicked out of harms way by an onrushing custodian Manpreet Singh.
The cop’s citadel fell when centre half Rajbir Singh took advantage of a defensive gaffe and sounded the board with a withering carpet drive. After this goal, the cops’ play turned a bit jagged and their rough tackling too came under the scrutiny of the umpires.
The contest between CISF and BSF was played on an even keel and with both teams locked 1-1 at the end of regulation time the tie breaker was brought into play to break the deadlock. However, things were settled only in the long drawn out sudden death with BSF charting out a 12-11 win.