BPCL win 4-0,ensure semi-final spot

Bharat Petroleum needed a win on Wednesday to ensure their spot in the semi-finals of the Lal Bahadur Shastri hockey tournament,and they duly completed the necessity against South Central Railway.

The Wednesday tie was a match important only to BPCL,as was also apparent by their body language - SC Railway had already crashed out with two defeats in as many games - and the oil-men stayed true to their billing as one of the top teams in the competition,winning 4-0 to not only go on top of Pool A but also to improve their goal tally and goal difference and both these things will prove crucial if they end up in a tie with other teams in the points tally.

BPCL were expected to win this match and they showed that desperation,being on the attacking front from the start. After a barren first quarter,BPCL stuck home thrice inside 10 minutes to completely catch the opposition unawares and take control of the game.

Karamjeet Singh put them ahead in the 16th minute,Ravipal Singh made it 2-0 three minutes later and Sher Singh pumped in another 4 minutes to go into the break with a 3-goal cushion.

Perhaps content with having proved their superiority by creating chances galore and striking at will,BPCL added just one more to their tally in the second half,Gurpreet Singh converting a penalty corner in the 49th minute to complete the scoreline.

The win puts BPCL on top of the group with five points from their 3 games,and a goal difference of +5. Which means they will most likely go through,barring a goalfest on Thursday.

In the other match of the day,ONGC beat PNB XI 4-1 to sit pretty on top of pool B. With a win and a draw so far,ONGC have been unbeaten in their group and,given their recent performances,among the favourites for the title here.

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After a prolonged period of cautious play when both teams were content sizing up the opposition,Jagwant opened the scoring for ONGC in the 24th minute. PNB,who have depended on their defence time and again,managed to come good this time also,managing to restrict ONGCs lead to the lone goal,at least till half time.

It was a different story after the break,though. ONGC,perhaps realizing that they cannot afford to sit back,scored twice more,through India players Mandeep Antil and Gurwinder Singh Chandi,before Jalwinder Singh pulled one back for PNB in the 66th minute. But Pramod Kumar,a former PNB academy product,stuck the winner against his former team a minute later to complete the rout.

On Thursday,Army XI will take on Indian Oil for the second qualifying spot from Pool A while Air India play ONGC in Pool B. While Air India require an outright win to have any chances of going ahead,a draw will be enough for ONGC,currently on top of their group.

Thursdays matches: AIR INDIA Vs ONGC 11.00 AMARMY XI Vs IOC 02.30 PM

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