GURU TEGH BAHADUR GOLD CUP
Mumbai: It was a day of contrasting hockey at the Guru Tegh Bahadur Gold Cup here. While one side ran roughshod over their rivals, the second saw a seesaw battle till the last minute. The dark skies threatened to open up any moment but never did; on the ground goals just rained, 25 in all. The final scores: Indian Oil 13 beat Mumbai Port Trust 1, Punjab National Bank 6 beat Western Railway 5.
There’s nothing much to write about the Indian Oil-MbPT game, except that the victory margin could have been much bigger, considering the pathetic display put up by MbPT. They neither attacked, nor defended, leaving only their hapless goalkeeper, S Vivek, at the mercy of the marauding Indian Oil strikers.
The Oilmen took it easy initially, taking eight minutes to score the first goal, Rajpal Singh being the scorer. Another 10 minutes passed by peacefully, before the floodgates opened.
Three goals in two minutes and another shortly before lemon break saw them leading 5-1. Another deluge followed once the sides switched ends, seven goals in 20 minutes, and all field goals. Prabhjot Singh struck a hattrick, and a brace each in the names of Didar Singh, Bharat Chinkara, Deepak Thakur, Inderjit Chadda and Hamza Mujtaba showcased the Oilmen’s dominance. For MbPT, captain Leonard Pereira had the consolation of scoring the only goal for his side.
“The warm-up is over, the hard work starts now. It’s a good way to reach the semis,’’ said former India goalkeeper and coach of Indian Oil, Devesh Chauhan.
The PNB-WR could well prove to be the match of the tournament. The youthful Railway side, despite trailing 3-1 at one time, and 5-3 ten minutes before the final hooter, never gave it up till the end against their fancied rivals. In fact, at one point the normally tight PNB defence looked like crumbling against the relentless attacks by the WR forwardline. However, in their zeal to get the equaliser, Railway left gaping holes in their backline which PNB took advantage of to pump in their sixth goal. WR made it 5-6 but the long hooter followed soon after to end their hopes.