Chennai: Tamil Nadu Police’s unblemished run in the IOB-CHA Super Six premier hockey league came to an end here on Thursday with a 2-4 defeat to Integral Coach Factory. The two-goal margin flattered Police, which lacked any trace of cohesion and constantly misplaced passes in midfield.
For ICF, Sarath Babu scored a brace and looked lively throughout, buzzing into the channels to combine with the wide players. He opened ICF’s scoring in the 11th minute, pouncing on Police keeper Saravanakumar’s parry from Vivek’s initial drag-flick.
The first half ended on level terms after Palanivel Nathan equalised through a penalty stroke in the 29th minute, earned when Muthu suffered a stick-check in the ‘D’.
ICF converted penalty corners in the 36th and 54th minute, Shyam Kumar and Satish Kumar applying clinical finishes, before making it 4-1 in the 56th through a joyous bit of interplay.
Karthick picked up the ball on the left flank after yet another loose Police pass and played the ball down the line to Sarath. The forward passed the ball back to Karthick, received it once again on the left-hand edge of ‘D’ and slalomed a further five yards down the byline before poking home adroitly.
Kannan scored a consolation goal for Police through a 60th minute short corner.
Indian Bank scores win
Earlier, penalty corner goals from Dinesh Nayak and Heartlin James gave Indian Bank a 2-1 win over SAI ‘A’, for whom Sathya Rajan scored.
The tournament will resume on January 10 after a two-day break. — Sports Reporter