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IOC downs spirited Railways

S. Thyagarajan

— Photo: M. Vedhan

HIGH FIVES:Gurvinder Singh (centre) of ONGC celebrates with Bikas Toppo after their team beat Punjab National Bank.

Chennai: Overcoming tense moments and surviving spells of persistent probing from an inspired Indian Railways outfit, IOC managed to script a 4-2 win to come in line for the glittering Gold Cup in the MCC-Murugappa hockey tournament.

The final hurdle on Sunday for IOC is ONGC, which eliminated Punjab National Bank 3-2.

If Railways had caused an upset, which looked quite in the realm of possibility when the team led 2-1 till midway in the second half, the crowd would have accepted the verdict.

Scorching pace

Such was the pace and pugnacity of the Railway players that the redoubtable IOC, packed with internationals, was left gasping on more than one occasion.

The star of the Railways squad was Adbul Aleem. Whenever he darted in there was a ripple of excitement among the crowd. He figured prominently in both the goals, paving the way for the equaliser, which Chengappa completed with glee, and then netting a spectacular goal off a cross from Sana. Aleem's wristy deflection smashed into the net before Devesh Chauhan could blink.

Railways' fight in the match was all the more heartening as IOC struck within seconds from the push off through Roshan Minz. Thereafter, the Railway defenders, headed by goalkeeper Suraj Kanta, repulsed every IOC raid.

None of the efforts by Inderjit Chadha and Mujtaba from the mid-field could create a proper opening for the seasoned Deepak Thakur and Prabhjot Singh to weave in. Whenever they did Suraj Kanta made a series of saves.

Apart from Kanta, the deep defenders, Innocent Kullu and Manjeet Kullu — the latter made a goal-line save off Prabhjot's drive — were outstanding in their work.

The tide turned for IOC only late in the second half when Deepak picked up a rebound off a strike by Prabhjot. The Railway players protested the decision indicating a foul by the IOC player inside the circle. That goal gave IOC the required confidence.

Then an error by Kanta in stopping a long-range drive by Raghunath gave Prabhjot the chance to push in the rebound. Raghunath then converted a penalty corner to give IOC the win it was searching for.

ONGC in final

ONGC had to ward off a very stiff challenge from PNB. The margin mirrors it without doubt. Happily, the encounter provided a few enchanting moments. One such was the second goal by Bruno Logan for the 2-2 equaliser to PNB.

It was an impeccable effort from a cross beautifully laid in front by mid-fielder Yudvir. The deflection of the ball to the roof of the net was a sight to behold.

Led commendably by the elusive Pramod Kumar, the ONGC attack exuded enviable confidence. Dharmender and Jagwant Singh contributed immensely to enhance the fluency in the attack. Mid-fielder Preetinder Singh came up with some lovely passes. In the closing minutes skipper Harpal Singh proved his value. His defence in the penalty corners was exemplary.

Logan shone in the attack for PNB, with excellent support from Yudvir in the mid-field. Actually, PNB gained the lead against the run of play after smothering all the pressure exerted on the defenders by the rival. Ranjit Singh tapped in a cross midway in the first half to hoist the lead.

Pushed to fight back, and with star striker Diwakar Ram unable to beat the intrepid Jasbir Singh under the PNB goal, relief for ONGC came in the shape of Balwinder Singh for the leveller from a penalty corner. A charming cross from Pramod Kumar paved the way for Gurvinder Singh to put ONGC ahead.

Even before the cheers died down, PNB produced a stunner of a goal by Bruno. A draw and extra time emerged as a possibility but Jagwant Singh put an end to this speculation finishing with a flashy shot after Jasbir Singh padded a shot from Dharmendar.

There was intense pressure on ONGC to defend the lead from penalty corners — PNB had six in the second half — but Harpal Singh stood like a solid bastion.

The results (Semifinals):

ONGC 3 (Balwinder Singh, Gurvinder Singh, Jagwant Singh) beat Punjab National Bank 2 (Ranjit Singh, Bruno Logan).

IOC 4 (Roshan Minz, Deepak Thakur, Prabhjot Singh, V. Raghunath) beat Indian Railways 2 (Chengappa, Abdul Aleem).

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