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IOB too good for Mumbai XI

Hockey Correspondent

HOCKEY / Army overwhelms defending champion BPCL

— Photo: M. Vedhan

LIVELY SHOW: Mumbai XI’s Manish Sahai (centre) and Senthil Kumar of IOB (right) are caught off-balance in a midfield tussle in the MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup hockey tournament.

CHENNAI: What began on a sombre note ended as one of the most eventful days in the current MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup hockey tournament at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium on Wednesday.

The two teams that elevated the whole atmosphere to a gripping state were the local champion, Indian Overseas Bank, which outclassed Mumbai XI by a convincing 4-1 margin, and the hard working Army XI that showed the exit door to the defending champion, BPCL, and join Air India as the second semi-finalist from Pool B.

Army XI garnered nine points against Air India’s tally of 10.

Chittaranjan shines

Athletic and aggressive, the Army outfit profited a great deal by the early goal that Chittaranjan.

With confidence pepped up the Army team overwhelmed the rival by sheer speed and systematic thrusts.

When Sunil smashed in a well angled shot to enlarge the margin, the BPCL players were clearly on the defensive.

The exception was the lethal striker Amar Ayamma gave some semblance of fight that inspired Hari Prasad to procure the equaliser midway through..

BPCL, however, did not reckon the scoring competence of veteran Ignace Tirkey who tapped in a cross from Sunil to give Army the lead again. Shortly after the break Sunil stopped a long pass from Ignace and drove the ball home to increase the score to 4-2.

Exceeds expectations

Showing sporadic incandescence, Indian Overseas Bank, exceeded expectations, and moved to the threshold of a berth in last four from Pool A.

With seven points in the kitty after finishing its engagements, IOB has to wait for the outcome of the key match involving IOC and Indian Railways on Thursday.

A victory for IOC will winkle Railways out of the reckoning; even a draw cannot save Railways.

IOC has a plus four goal difference against the plus three for IOB and plus one for Railways.

Good show by Senthil

What served as the springboard for IOB was the convincing performance from the mid-field by Senthil.

It was his charming effort shortly after the goal-less break that lifted the proceedings to a different level.

A quicksilver move by Vimalanathan engineered a goal-bearing surge. Adam Sinclair picked up the ball, danced down the line and sent across a perfect cross.

Senthil, the opportunist that he is, lay in wait on top of the circle and swept the ball into the boards in style.

As though this was not enough to proclaim his proficiency, Senthil scored another nice goal with a deflection from a penalty corner.

The spirit and skill behind the effort galvanized the IOB attack and defence into an enviable rhythm. However, a yellow card for Sinclair slowed down the tempo. Mumbai wrested the initiative and Yuvaraj Valmiki scored from a long hit by Kulbushan. If the IOB defence looked nonplussed at this point, goalkeeper Sreejesh weathered the storm gallantly to keep danger out of harm’s way.

The return of Sinclair again brought IOB into the picture. IOB struck through Adam Sinclair who converted the pass from Vinod Rayar, and minutes later the pair reversed its role, Vinod netting off a Sinclair pass.

Chandla Kesu obtained the equaliser three minutes from the hooter to give Railways 1-1 draw against Karnataka giving it a slender chance to make the grade.

Mudappa scored for Karnataka after the goal-less first half. Karnataka finished with one point.

The results: Karnataka 1 ( Mudappa) drew with Indian Railways 1 (Chandla Kesu). IOB 4 (Sethil 2, Adam Sinclair, Vinod Rayar) bt Mumbai 1 (Yuvaraj Valmiki). Army XI 4 (Chittaranjan, Ignace Tirkey, Sunil 2) bt BPCL 2 (Amar Ayyamma, Hari Prasad).

Thursday’s matches: Orissa v Namdhari XI; IOC v Indian Railways.

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