The Hindu

Chennai: Demonstrating a good measure of technical excellence and touch, Indian Overseas Bank captured its third trophy in a row this season when it outplayed Southern Railway 3-1 to win the V.J. Peter Memorial Cup in the Finpro Sports Management hockey tournament at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium on Sunday.

IOB led 3-0 at half time.

The big holiday crowd enjoyed every minute of the contest although the tie was more or less decided by the end of the first session. There was no doubt about the superiority of IOB in every department. Olympian Adam Sinclair distinguished himself in the role of schemer, often initiating breakaway moves on the flank. Iyappan and Senthi lent a helping hand to maintain pressure on the Railway defence.

Classic goal

IOB forged ahead midway through from a classic goal by Iyappan. Picking up a long cross from Adam Sinclair, he dodged two defenders in style and capped the effort with a splendid flick over the goal-keeper. Within minutes, Muthuselvan slammed in a penalty corner and before the break Vinod Rayar provided the finishing touches to a clever pass by Gopinath.

Railway was subdued in the face of the consistency maintained by IOB. True, there were a few purposeful forays resulting in penalty corners. Karan’s efforts did not bear fruit. Inside forward Arumugam and N. Suresh worked hard but Railway succeeded in striking only late in the match through Arumugam.

Indian Overseas Bank won Rs.60,000 while Soutnern Railway, Indian Bank and ICF received a cash award of Rs. 40,000, 15000, and 10,000 respectively
Indian Bank third

Indian Bank finished third with a 2-1 victory over Integral Coach Factory and won the L. Prabhakaran Cup.

Indian Bank led 1-0 at half time.

V. Raja and Philip Martin scored for Indian Bank while the lone goal for ICF came from Raja.