Dominant Punjab & Sind Bank (PSB) put it across Indian Railways 3-1 in a Pool B match to qualify for the semifinals of the 89th all-India MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup hockey tournament here on Tuesday. Army XI has also made the grade.
Earlier, in a Pool A contest, Karnataka fought back gallantly to draw with Mumbai to finish with three points from four matches.
The PSB-Railways game picked up steam midway. Ranjodh Singh opened the account for PSB. It was actually Railways that was threatening to score with fine moves in the early part of the first session.
The equaliser came in the 26th minute, thanks to a great effort by Niyaz. The forward, playing on the right, showed his dribbling skills before passing it on to Stanli Mint, who had the goalkeeper at his mercy.
Counterattack Stunned by the equaliser, PSB started to attack on the right. It paid rich dividends when Jagjit Singh’s pass from the centre found Prabhdeep Singh, who in turn relayed it to Ramandeep Singh. The striker rolled it past the ’keeper.
The third goal was the final nail in the coffin for Railways. Goalkeeper Sukh Sagar failed to notice the on-rushing Sarvanjit Singh and completely missed the ball.
The PSB player made no mistake, casually netting it home.
In the second half, the Railways players protested against an umpiring decision to award a stroke as the ball had touched the rival defender’s legs. But after consulting the other umpire, he changed it to a corner.
Defender Harjeet Singh scored a brace in Mumbai’s drawn match against Karnataka. Harjeet converted two penalty-corners; both finding the right corner of the roof.
Karnataka came back strongly with Thimanna scoring both the goals.
The results: Pool A: Mumbai 2 (Harjeet Singh 19 & 29) drew with Karnataka 2 (P.N. Thimanna 20 & 64).
Pool B: Punjab & Sind Bank 3 (Ranjodh Singh 19, Ramandeep Singh 29, Sarvanjit Singh 53) bt Indian Railways 1 (Stanli Mint 26).
Correction
The photo caption erroneously said that Mumbai’s Harjeet Singh scored a brace against Indian Railways. Actually, it was against Karnataka.
