Chennai: On an eventful day that produced spells of exciting hockey the Army XI and BPCL earned the right to face each other for the glittering gold cup on Sunday’s final in the MCC-Murugappa hockey tournament.
While the Army XI made it edging out ONGC 5-4 in the tension-packed sudden-death phase, BPCL played with rare élan to eliminate the runner up of last year, Indian Oil Corporation by four goals to three.
Highlights
There were two memorable events on Saturday. The first was the sudden death flick by Rajesh Lakra to hoist the flag of victory for Army. The second enthralling moment was the spectacular second goal by Amar Aiyamma against IOC.
What imparted sheen to Aiyamma’s effort was the manner in which he surged ahead to meet a forward pass by Sabu Varkey and cap it with a lethal finish. Not often do we see goals of this class in domestic events.
IOC ’s collapse surprised quite a few but it must be acknowledged that a handful of its stars are with the national squad now touring Canada. But that should not take away the merit of BPCL’s grand show.
Trailing 0-3 shortly after the break IOC managed to cut the lead to 2-3 before finally going down 4-3.
Jarnail Singh put BPCL ahead midway through the first half, and then came Aiyamma’s classic effort. Shortly after the break Gurpreet smashed in a penalty corner.
But IOC fought back valiantly at this point thanks to the splendid work of Deepak Thakur who scored two goals with Kamalesh Parihar contributing the other. Pundalik Bellary scored the fourth goal for BPCL before Deepak’s second goal sealed the issue.
Fluently fervent
Flummoxed by the fluency and fervour displayed by the Army’s forthright incursions, the ONGC defence showed desperation. Even as early as the 11th minute, Sandeep Antil was shown the yellow card.
The Army attack functioned largely on the moves fashioned by the seasoned Ignace Tirkey who received excellent back-up from Eliazer Lakra, Mundu and Sunil Ekka. ONGC conceded four penalty corners in this half.
Army went into the lead close on half time. A good move initiated by Lakra gave Tirkey a nice opening. The latter’s withering backhander was padded by goal-keeper, Kamaldeep. But Mundu pounced on the rebound and tapped in.
The ONGC frontline, led commendably on the flank by Mandeep, carried a series of raids that pushed the Army into taking cover. Mandeep was swift down the line and produced some stunning cross passes. With Pramod and Bikash joinin in, the pressure at the Army end was visibly enhanced.
Off a penalty corner Diwakar executed a neat shot but goal-keeper P.T. Rao baulked the effort. In the scrimmage that followed, Mandeep slotted the equaliser.
Exciting exchanges
Exciting exchanges featured the second half with both venturing to pick a hole or two in the rival defence. There were specks of rough play — ONGC’s Baljinder earned a yellow card at the start of this half — but the goal-keepers P.T. Rao of Army and Kamaldeep Singh were unbeatable.
After the golden goal phase, the match meandered into the tie breaker which ended at 3-3. In the sudden-death period Rajesh Lakra tipped the scales of victory in favour of Army.
The results (semifinals): Army 5 (Mundu, TB: Rajesh Lakra, Ignace Tirkey, Varun Sudden-death: Rajesh Lakra) bt ONGC 4 (Mandeep, TB: Diwakar Ram, Harpal Singh, Karamjeet). Man of the match: P.T. Rao
BPCL 4 (Jarnail Singh, Amar Aiyamma, Gurpreet Singh, Pundalik Bellary) bt IOC 3 (Deepak Thakur 2, Kamalesh Parihar). Man of the match: Sabu Varkey.
Sunday’s match: Final: Army XI v BPCL.