RCF capped off a fine run in the third edition of the Late Devdas Shetty Memorial Monsoon Hockey League,as they prevailed over the Pune City Police in a tightly contested summit clash. RCF won 4-2 after a penalty shootout was utilised to separate the deadlock. Bhushan Dhere opened the scoring for Pune City Police,as he converted an accurate Kamlakar Gaikwad pass from the left in the fifth minute to give his side the lead. The first half saw several goalmouth action,but no further goals. Both teams regularly forayed into the striking circles,but their strikers did not seem to be at their sharpest best. After the break,RCF seemed to have come out of their shell as Ravi Pareek,who had been impressive throughout the tournament,was in a rapid-fire brace. Pareek first turned in a Suhas Patil cross in the 37th minute and then barely a minute later,converted a pass from Ashish Chetty into a goal to give his side the lead. Pune City Police who seemed to be rattled by the RCF onslaught soon gathered their wits and restored parity through Dhere. The striker was fed by midfielder Kunal Jagdale and he dribbled past a couple of RCF defenders before expertly placing the ball in the corner. With both teams locked at 2-2 at the end of normal time,the match was decided through a penalty shootout. Vijay Thapa and Ravi Pareek converted their penalty strokes,while none of the Pune City Police penalty takers could score. Bhushan Dhere was adjudged the best player of the tournament,while the best young player award for the tournament was shared by Akshay Aray,Kayyum Attar and Nayyum Attar.
