Bangalore: St Joseph’s Boys’ High School overpowered Bishop Cottons Boys’ School 3-0 to defend their title in the Centenary hockey tournament for seniors (under-17) here on Saturday.

In a lop-sided encounter, Josephites dominated the proceedings from the word go to put the rival defence under pressure. However, a goal eluded them in the opening minutes and they had to wait until the 12th minute for their first penalty corner.

Josephites grabbed that opportunity with both hands to go 1-0 ahead when forward Vaishnav Murthy slotted in a rebound past rival custodian Rahul M.

In the 22nd minute, Josephites almost netted their second goal but Abhay failed to connect a Nayan Pinto cross from the right. In the very next minute, Murthy botched an open chance when his weak shot was easily kicked out by goalkeeper Rahul.

After the lemon break, the script remained intact but the second goal came only in the 44th minute when Abhishek P N deflected in an accurate cross from Karthik, much to the joy of Joseph’s’ fans cheering at the venue. Three minutes from the hooter, Abhay made amends for his earlier lapses and silenced the Cottonian supporters with the third strike to seal the issue.

In the Eric Vaz memorial tournament final for juniors (under-14), Baldwin Boys’ High School posted a comprehensive 3-0 victory over St Joseph’s Boys’ High School ‘A’.

Baldwins demonstrated their aggression early on though the first goal came only five minutes before the breather (25th). Captain Anup P M broke the shackles with a fast, solo effort from the left to deceive Joseph’s’ custodian Anirudh J. Just three minutes later, Joseph’s’ defence again buckled under pressure and lanky forward Salman Sait made the most of it by pumping in the second goal for Baldwins.

Moments into the second-half, Joseph’s’ goalkeeper Anirudh saved a penalty stroke for his team but the custodian had no answers to a Kanjujam strike (42nd) to stamp the fate of Josephites.