Railways, BSF overrun rivals

Haryana, who lost a close match to BSF on Saturday seemed determined to make amends today coming up with a resolute defence, where Parmod Kumar was the most stoic.

In fact, they seized the initiative in the initial stages of the game, forcing a penalty corner in the opening minute, but that only spurred the much speedier Railways forward-line of Ajinder Pal Singh and Hasrat Qureshi both junior internationals to move in their wonten rhythm.

The duo were not only speedy but also were instrumental in giving the side a 2-0 lead at the breather.

First, in the 12th minute, Ajinder and Hasrat entered the striking circle with an attractive passing bout before the former deftly tapped the ball to Rajiv Misra on the right, who completed the formality of scoring past an onrushing goal-keeper.

Then came the foul on Ajinder inside the area, for which umpire Gunashekar Karnataka penalised Haryana with a penalty corner.

Railways skipper Ashok Kumar Sr, perhaps, the oldest player in the tournament, saw his hit entering the goal off Haryana defender Jaswant Singhacirc;euro;trade;s stick.

On resumption, Railways think tank Baskaran and Balwinder Singh used their bench strength to the fullest extent keeping their regular forwards fresh.

That seemed to help the team as they pumped in two more goals.

Penalty corner specialist Sunil Kumar converted the sideacirc;euro;trade;s seventh corner in the 47th minute and 13 minutes later, Mukthiar Singh completed the score-line off a Qureshi cross.

BSF did not face as much trouble in their win over Vidarbha, who with this defeat bowed out of the championship without a point.

Swift forward Shinu Hernez was the star for BSF scoring twice 13th and 20th minutes, after Habul Topno put them ahead in the 11th minute to go into the changeover at 3-0.

In the second session, BSF consolidated their lead scoring twice within a minute apart. Peter Tirkey sounded boards in the 45th minute and a minute later, Harbajan Singh trapped a Shinu cross to put the team 5-0 ahead. With eight minutes left in the match, Harmeet Singh rounded off the tally scoring off a Harbajan through pass.

More than the scoreline, what should have made BSF coach Baljeet Singh happy was the smooth manner in which his forward-line moved, but will it be sufficient to test a talented combination of the Railways will be a question which will be answered only on Monday.