Chennai: In a combat that assumed the proportions of a cup final, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation pipped BPCL by four goals to three — the match winner by Diwakar Ram surfacing seconds before the final whistle — to top Pool A in the MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup hockey tournament on Thursday.

ONGC led 2-1 at half-time.

ONGC will take on Army in Saturday’s semifinal with IOC set to lock horns with BPCL in the other semifinal.

Oscillating fortunes

What really kept the moderate crowd on the edge of their seats was the oscillating fortunes of the contestants. No quarter was asked for and none given. True, there was more-than-necessary circumspection exercised by both sides, given the status of the contest with the top spot at stake.

ONGC dictated the trend of the contest for the major part of the first half. There were crisp moves with Jagwant Singh leading the pack supported well by Mandeep. Although everyone looked up to that prodigious converter of penalty corners, Diwakar Ram, to hoist the lead, the honour fell on Jagwant who took advantage of a defensive lapse.

Within minutes ONGC enlarged the leeway when Bikash struck.

Striving manfully

BPCL was not at its fluent best, but strove manfully to get back into the contention. With the strapping Prabhdeep Singh spraying neat passes from the mid-field, the attack seemed to gain some verve. And this resulted in Jarnail Singh slamming in before half-time.

Soon after resumption, BPCL drew level, thanks to a brilliant strike by Prabhdeep Singh from the top of the circle. A draw was seen as a possibility at that point of time. But, BPCL surged ahead, thanks to crafty drive by Jarnail Singh for his second goal.

With minutes ticking away, it looked as though BPCL was ready to run away with full points. But Pramod knocked out such thoughts with an attractive shot to bring ONGC back into contention at 3-3.

When the clock showed a minute to close, came a penalty corner. Diwakar Ram produced a stunner of a grounder, leaving goal-keeper Ajay Saroha clueless.

ONGC finished with an unblemished record of winning all four matches.

Ugly scenes

In an encounter of no consequence, Indian Railways won 3-2 against Punjab National Bank.

The final minutes witnessed some ugly scenes with the PNB players protesting a ruling by umpire Gnandasambandam. But the umpire stood his ground although some players moved threateningly towards him. The officials intervened and brought the situation under control. Friday is a rest day.

The results: ONGC 4 (Jagwant Singh, Bikash, Pramod, Diwakar Ram) bt BPCL 3 (Jarnail Singh 2, Prabhdeep Singh,).

Indian Railways 3 (Mahendra, Innocent Kullu, Kuldip Singh) bt Punjab National Bank 2 (Damandeep Singh, Yudvir Singh).

Position of teams (read under played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against and points): Pool A: ONGC 4-4-0-0-15-6-12; BPCL 4-3-0-1-11-5-9; Air India 4-1-1-2-6-11-4; Karnataka 4-0-2-2-7-11-2; Indian Overseas Bank 4-0-1-3-3-9-1.

Pool B: Indian Oil Corporation 4-4-0-0-12-4-12; Army 4-3-0-1-8-4-9; Indian Railways 4-2-0-2-6-5-6;, Punjab National Bank, 4-1-0-3-8-11-3; Mumbai 4-0-0-4-5-15-0.