Baig brace forCentral Rly

AUGUST 8: A brace by Shamim Baig was the feature of Central Railway's comfortable 3-1 victory over Mumbai Customs in the second-round mat...

AUGUST 8: A brace by Shamim Baig was the feature of Central Railway8217;s comfortable 3-1 victory over Mumbai Customs in the second-round match of the Bombay Hockey Association8217;s nine-a-side tournament at the Mahindra Stadium, Churchgate, today. Baig could have scored a hat-trick, but he muffed another couple of sitters. These misses saw the railwaymen struggle after Customs had rallied to make it 1-1 in the early minutes of the third and final 20-minute quarter.

The railwaymen began with a flourish. They forced three penalty corners in the first ten minutes. The first award in the third minute saw Habeebuddin8217;s rasping drive come off the near post after Customs goalkeeper Anson Thomas was beaten. The other two penalty-corners were wasted.

Central8217;s first goal came in the 10th minute. Spearhead Jamsher Khan and Baig combined to a nicety down the middle before Baig broke free and beat goalkeeper Thomas with an angular waist-high shot to the right of the 8216;keeper.

Central rested attackers Arif Baig, ShamimBaig and Jamsher for a good part of the second quarter. Customs, too, followed suit and substituted Suresh Pereira and Vijay Alphonso. The game in this quarter was goalless and a drag as a result of these moves.

The final quarter stole the cake. Customs8217; Stanley Fernandes scored with a neat reverse hit after the ball rebounded of a defender8217;s stick, following a forward pass by defender Aldolf Colaco who had moved up.

Adolf missed a sitter before Central made it 2-1 with a stroke which was converted by Mehraj Uddin. Customs fought with pluck before Central settled their hash with another move between Jamsher and Baig from which the latter found the mark from close quarters.

Earlier in the day, twice in arrears, the young Mumbai Port Trust side gave fancied Tata Sports Club a scare in the second-round. MbPT restored parity during regulation time but succumbed in the penalty-corner duel and went down 2-3.

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Amjad Khan, Enrico Fernandes and captain Claes Ferreira sounded the boards in that order for Tatas.Carlyle D8217;Mello and Abhijit Shirsat accounted for MbPT. Central Bank of India just about brushed aside a doughty Fr Agnel Gymkhana 3-2 via the sudden-death in the second-round tie. Vivek D8217;Souza 2 and Saby Noronha converted for CBI. Ilyas Khan and Vivek Gupta netted for the losers.

In yet another second-round encounter, Indian Navy pipped Bank of India 2-1. S Gorde and captain Rajen Lakra scored for the sailors and Eldridge Saldanha reduced the margin.

Veterans event

The fifth annual Veterans hockey tournament, organised by the Mumbai Veterans Hockey Association MVHA, will commence at the Mahindra Stadium, Churchgate, today.

Eight teams will vie for honours. They have been divided into two groups. Pool A comprises Tatas, MVHA, Bank of India and Railways. Pool B consists of Mahindras, Customs, Reserve Bank and C Banks. The semi-finals are slated for August 14 and the final will be held at 5.10 p.m. on Independence Day.