Assam caught in SAIL8217;s cross wind

In an inconsequential Group C8217; match, Hyderabad raised their level of the game midway through to overcome stiff resistance from Vidarbha. Hyderabad, thus earned their first three points from this 5-2 victory after two defeats while Vidharbha are virtually out of contention for the knock-out stage with three defeats.

SAIL, one of the six teams to make their debut in the Nationals after being granted associate membership of the Indian Hockey Federation, impressed in their maiden match, though it was against a weak Assam.

SAIL made their intentions clear right from the word go and staged repeated attacks on the rival citadel with their forwards Satnam Singh and Sunil Tirkey initiating dangerous moves. However, they could not open the account till the 11th minute when their skipper Saratchandra Toppo slammed home the first goal through a direct penalty-corner conversion. Three minutes later, Sunil Tirkey, put into possession by Eman Kandolana dodged defender Tapan Das and shot from a narrow angle to score the first of his three goals before Harish Sharma set up two brilliant goals one for Anil Prapul Ekka and Sunil Tirkey. By half time SAIL were leading by seven goals to nil.

But their hunger for goals continued after crossover, as they slammed ten more. Striker Satnam Singh ended up with four goals while the other scorers were Saratchandra Toppo three, all penalty-corner conversions, Sunil Tirkey 3, Aslam Khan, Anil Prapul Ekka, Aslam Mohd 2 each and Harish Sharma 1.

After initial hiccups, Central Excise and Customs shot into the lead in the 31st minute when Daljit Singh converted a stroke awarded for a stick-check by a defender. Though Madhya Bharat came back into the game when skipper Ajay Surve netted midway through the second half, Vinod Chinnappa, the rival skipper, led his team ahead through a superb field goal six minutes later. Central Excise consolidated from a penalty corner minutes before close when Sunil Kumar sounded the boards to make it 3-1.

In a group C match, which is of no significance in deciding the pool leaders, Hyderabad opened the account when Ajay Bharathi converted a stroke, awarded for a foul on Elia, in the sixth minute. Four minutes later Paul Moses made it 2-0 scoring off a pass from Harinath Reddy, but Vidarbha pulled one back immediately when Satish Fulsunge converted a short corner.

After taking the break with a narrow lead of 2-1, Hyderabad scored in the 42nd and 45th minutes through Harinath Reddy and Ajay Bharathi. Though Vidarbha made it 4-2, when Feroz Khan slotted home off a cross from Balmukund Patel, Hyderabad rounded off as Paul Moses fed an unmarked Sai Sridhar, who sounded the boards for a hard-fought 5-2 victory.