Railwaymen stifle RCF burst

With RCF ‘keeper Rajagopalan well off his line, Rishi Patel showed fine presence of mind to execute a loping scoop that dipped nicely into goal.

The scores were level within seconds and a quick-fire move down the middle led to Yogesh More flicking to the boards past Manish Gaur after accepting Megraj’s pass.

The breath-taking pace set by RCF was bound to slacken in the heat and the more discrete Central attack slammed in the winner following yet another counter-offensive in the 59th minute.

International Hasrat Quereshi struckhome after Subodh Khandekar, Jamsher Khan and Rishi Patel pieced together a quick move.

RCF threw everything into attack from the word go and should have been two goals up within ten minutes after Mahesh went close.

But RCF’s onus on attack left the defence vulnerable to Central’s frequent breaks and Jamsher and Quereshi twice looked like scoring.

RCF goalkeeper Rajagopalan shone in goal, denying Jamsher and Quereshi in quick succession.

Central’s first penalty-corner came after RCF wasted four and it followed N Thimmaiah’s obstructing Arif Baig. It bore fruit — thanks to Patel’s presence of mind.

The railway side’s joy lasted less than a minute and More’s strike following a move straight from the centre-push brought RCF deserved success.

RCF were to pay for somewhat indiscreetly expending energy in all-out attack in the first half and Central Railway exploited the wide gaps left by their tiring inside-forwards.

A goal for Central Railway always looked likely. With the game into its lastquarter and an RCF side a clear pace or two slower, Central Railway cashed in through Quereshi.

But RCF found the energy for a late burst, forcing two more penalty-corners to overwhelmingly lead the count (8-2) but Central ‘keeper Manish Gaur showed composure.

Gaur denied Megraj with a stick save following a clever corner variation and then lunged to his right to stave off Vinod Kumar’s flick off RCF’s eighth penalty-corner.

PLAYERS BANNED: Players expelled during the first-leg semifinal match on Saturday — Indian Navy’s P Singh and Amus Bara and Mumbai Customs’ Leonard Pereira — have been barred from further participation in the tournament.

Khar Gym win

Khar Gymkhana defeated Goregaon XI 2-1 in a Division II Hockey Association of Mumbai Rizvi League match played at St Andrew’s High School, Bandra today.

Derrick Menezes put Khar Gymkhana ahead in the second minute through a penalty corner while Puran Singh made the scores 2-0 in the 19th minute.Though Goregaon reduced the margin inthe 47th minute, through Sainath Rao, it was too late by then.