MUMBAI, JUNE 27: A hat-trick, the first of the current competition, by striker Amar Aiyamma was the high point of Bharat Petroleum's (BPCL) 4-1 triumph over Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) in a quarter-final match of the Bombay Hockey Championship at the Mahindra Stadium, Churchgate, on Wednesday. Right-winger Deepak Sharma was the other goal-getter for BPCL.Earlier in another quarter-final tie, Mumbai Customs trounced India Navy 3-0. Suresh Pereira, Vijay Alphonso and Ashish Gonsalves scored in that order for Customs.MbPT, who had shocked Tatas, were beaten but not disgraced as the scoreline suggests. They had as much of the game as BPCL but they caved in after left wing-back Javed Shaikh was shown the yellow card. BPCL scored two quicksilver goals during Javed's absence to break the back of MbPT's resistance and then added another two when their opponents threw in the towel.It was MbPT who took the lead in the 15th minute through an opportunistic goal by left-winger Leonard Pereira after a gem of a move down the middle between Mumtaz Ahmed and striker Digvijay Naik.MbPT could have increased the lead in the earlier minutes of the second-half. But their striker Digvijay Naik was in a prodigal mood and muffed three good openings.BPCL changed the course of the game within four minutes thereafter. Aiyamma struck in quick succession in the 53rd and 57th minutes with superb deflections, which brooked no answer from MbPT goalkeeper Jahangir Shaikh who had shone against Tatas in the pre-quarter-finals.Aiyamma completed his hat-trick in the 65th minute off a fine move between Sabu Varkey and Bipin Fernandes. Right-winger Deepak Sharma rounded-off the tally two minutes from the end with a fine angular shot into goal. BPCL now await the winner of the Western Railway-Sports Authority of India clash.CUSTOMS IN SEMIS: Mumbai Customs earned a semi-final berth with defending champions Air-India with a comfortable win over Navy who played far below their best.Suresh Pereira wrested the lead in the 25th minute with a good shot from a zero angle off a pass by Vijay Alphonso. Suresh then returned the compliment by providing a pass for Vijay to score. Ashish Gonsalves put the issue beyond doubt when he scored following a pass by Rahul Singh.
