ONGC crush Police, while Nave overcomes the spirited SAI

Mumbai, September 16: Defending champions Oil and Natural Gas Corporation crushed Maharashtra State Police 8-0 after losing their focus towards the end of the first half which resulted in yellow cards to their defenders Olympian Harpal Singh and Baljinder Singh for dissent and rough play respectively. Leading by a couple of goals then the champions nailed a goal from an extended penalty corner at half time. Jayanta the tall and well built lad from the North –East converted with a drag flick to beat the rival keeper Imran Metkari without whom the police would have been swamped by at least a round dozen. In the other match played earlier in the Mumbai Hockey Super League, Indian Navy overcame a fighting Sports Authority of India 5-2 after being sharing four goals in an hour’s play.

ONGC’s prolific scorer Jaskaran hogged the limelight with three goals with the duo of Karamjit, Jayanta knocking in two each. Junior international Sandeep Antil opened the scoring as early as the third minute for ONGC. Harpal harnessed Jagwant with a long probing through, but he was foiled by Imran in the nick of time. The resultant rebound, was picked up by Sandeep after which he let go a flier to score. ONGC earned a stroke when a Baljinder flick from a penalty corner struck police defender Baljit Thakur on the shoulder. Imran stuck his stick to the right and foiled Jagwant. The police goal however, fell in the 15th minute with Jayanta converting the second penalty corner. He struck again to make it 3-0 off a similar award.

The second half saw the flood gates open in the last ten minutes after Jaykaran scored a goal with a clever flick after he found himself with his back to the goal in the 48th minute. The policemen short on physical fitness and lacking a coach saw their citadel fall time and again. Karamjit and Jaykaran thrived on the situation to nail in four goals in a space of five minutes. The champions have now moved to the second spot with 13 points, the same as Western Railway who lead with a superior goal difference.

Sports Authority of India came back strongly after being down 0-2 at the break only to fizzle out, that too surprisingly against the sailors who are not exactly fit by their standards. Ajay Kumar the old warhorse put Navy ahead pushing the ball past onrushing SAI keeper Muzahid Khan following a 25 yard run. Liaba Singh pounced on a rebound to double the lead after Amrit Kiro had slammed in the second penalty corner. The change of ends saw SAI come back roaring. Nanad Bahadur enhanced his reputation with a fine drag flick off the first penalty corner for SAI. He stung Navy once more with a superb shot after Niyaz Rahim and Anand Kumar did the spade work. Centre forward Ajay Kumar’s efforts bore fruit as Navy kept on knocking hard at the rival citadel. He swept home a fine cross followed by a deflection from close after missing a couple of sitters. Shish Ram completed the tally with a strong reverse hit. Navy now have eight points with two wins and draws.

Tomorrow’s matches

2.30 pm R.C.F Vs Mumbai Port Trust

4.00 pm Central Railway Vs Mumbai Customs