Punjab Police lift trophy

Punjab Police, Jalandhar, defeated EME, Jalandhar, 6-4 in a nail-biting match to win the 36th Liberals All-India hockey tournament that concluded at Nabha today. The teams were tied 2-2 in the scheduled time but the Punjab Police lads displayed fine skills during the tie-breaker, which brought the curtains down for EME.

The policemen opened their account in the 18th minute when inside-left Amit Sandhu collected a clean centre from right-winger Prabhjeet Singh and placed the ball into the net before goalkeeper Anil could react. The policemen held a slight edge in their attacking line and made quick forays into the EME territory but could not increase their lead due to solid defence put up by the Army outfit. There was no further score till the half-time.

In the second half, EME organized themselves and improved with each passing minute. Expectedly, they equalised in the 44th minute amidst loud cheers. The goal was scored by inside-right Jagjit, who deflected a full-blooded shot taken by centre-half Gurmeet Singh from the 25-yard line, giving no chance to the goalkeeper.

The game accelerated and there were many dangerous moves by EME but it was Punjab Police who again drew blood, going ahead in the 52nd minute when Jagbeer Singh rushed into the circle from the right wing and scored from a very acute angle.

Egged on by a vociferous crowd, EME harassed the policemen continuously towards the end of the match and were rewarded with two successive penalty-corners in the dying minutes. The Army men latched onto the opportunity when fullback S. Barla took an indirect hit from the short-corner to sound the board, making the score 2-2 in the 65th minute.

In the tie-breaker, EME missed twice through Gurbinder and Jagjit while the policemen converted all the four strokes taken by Satwinder, Avtar Singh, Charanjeet Singh and Ajay Kumar to decide the match with an aggregate score of 6-4.