Punjab outfits share title

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Punjab outfits share title
A STAFF REPORTER

PSB captain Mandeep Singh (left) and Punjab Police captain Kanwalpreet Singh with the Beighton Cup at the SAI Complex in Calcutta on Friday. A Telegraph picture

Calcutta: Archrivals Punjab Police and Punjab & Sind Bank (PSB) were adjudged joint winners in the Coal India 113th All India Beighton Cup at the SAI complex on Friday.

The Punjab outfits were locked 2-2 after extra time, when both the captains complained of insufficient light. The penalty shoot-out couldn’t take place forcing the organisers to declare them joint winners.

This was the 11th time that Beighton Cup had joint winners, 28 years after EME Jalandhar and Eastern Railway Athletic Association were declared the same in 1982.

Dominating from the word go Punjab Sind Bank took the lead in the 30th minute when Ranjodh Singh flicked in a cross from the left flank.

One minute later, exploiting a defensive lapse they attacked again. An identical move ensued as Rajwinder Singh scored after grabbing a cross from the left with Baljeet Singh out of position.

Pushing their state rivals on to the back foot, the PSB players stamped their authority over the game, but only till half-time.

Punjab Police regrouped in the second session. Amit Singh brought them back into the game scoring via a penalty corner. Three minutes later, they restored parity when a desperate Jagbir Singh sounded the board following a long ball from the centre.

PSB were taken by surprise with the sudden offensive and went into a defensive shell. They tried their best to turn things around but the result remained unchanged till the end of regulation time.

Even 15 minutes of extra time failed to produce a winner. However, towards the fag end, a PSB goal via a free-hit was disallowed by the umpires.

And when both the captains complained of bad light for the penalty shoot-out, match officials declared them joint winners.

However, both the captains were disappointed with the result.

While PSB captain Mandeep Singh said that an early start to the match could have been a better idea, his counterpart Kanwalpreet Singh said: “This was a good match. It should have produced a result.”

Meanwhile, Bengal Hockey Association secretary Gurbux Singh said: “Every other match was held at this time only and all had results… The players themselves wasted some crucial ten minutes when the umpires disallowed the goal (in the extra time)… Had they done that the match would’ve been over by time.”

Balwant Singh of Punjab Police grabbed the best player of the tournament award and the East Coast Railway team won the Fair Play Trophy.