Under extreme pressure, it is usually experience that bails a team out.
IOC, out-run and outplayed by the Indian Army in the first half, bounced back to script a 5-4 win and reach the final of the MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup 92nd all-India hockey tournament here on Saturday.
In the final, it will meet Indian Railways which drubbed Punjab & Sind Bank (PSB) 4-0.
The fitter and faster of the two teams, Army also proved to be better in terms of strategy and execution for most parts of the first session. After IOC’s Arman Qureshi had deflected home off a penalty corner taken by V.R. Raghunath, Army came up with three quick strikes in the space of 12 minutes. Army held the upper-hand, thanks to Manpreet Singh in the midfield.
Army didn’t allow IOC much leeway either in attack or defence, enjoying a 3-1 lead at half-time and a 4-2 advantage midway in the second.
The turnaround
The turning point came in the 54th minute when Gurjinder Singh dragged the ball to the left corner of the roof to reduce the margin for IOC. Earlier, Raghunath had missed two back-to-back corners and pressure was building on Army. It began to yield possession to IOC, allowing the “champion” — as IOC coach Deepak Thakur likes to call his team — to attack with vigour.
The momentum shifted and in the final 20 minutes, it was IOC which completely dominated the proceedings.
Gurjinder converted a penalty stroke to level things before Affan Yousuf pushed home off a cross from the right by Vikramjit Singh.
Railways, an explosive team with players possessing sublime skills and top-notch fitness, didn’t give PSB even a whiff of a chance in the other semifinal.
The results (semifinals):
IOC 5 (Arman Qureshi 4 & 42, Gurjinder Singh 54 & 61, Affan Yousuf 63) bt Indian Army 4 (Sajeeb Dung Dung 20, Biraj Ekka 27, Sanjay Toppo 32, Gurpreet Singh 50).
Indian Railways 4 (Nilakanta Sharma 8, Harsahib Singh 14 & 31, Rajin Kandulna 36) bt PSB 0.
