MUMBAI, March 7: Teenager Stanley Fernandes tore mighty Indian Navy apart as he led a patchwork Mumbai Customs to a 3-1 win in the first-leg semi-final of the Bombay Hockey Association (BHA) prize money tournament at the Mahindra Stadium today.Inside-left Fernandes cracked in two goals and enhanced his worth with immaculate tackling that bolstered the mid-field. The slim 17-year-old grabbed the game from the fitter servicemen after Customs fell behind in the 22nd minute to a fine individual goal by JP Ekka.An exhilarating match turned sour and 13 cards - six green, four yellow and three red - brought a sad ending. One incident brooked all three red cards shown by umpire Satinder Pal Walia and it led to Customs' third goal in the 53rd minute from a penalty-stroke.Adolf Colaco converted the award, unruffled by goalkeeper Khand Pal's violent charge to bring him down and a near free-for-all that followed.Navy defender Amus Bara's assault on Customs' Leonard Pereira after Colaco was upended led toinstant retaliation. Navy's Haque, sitting out a yellow card, joined the fracas to follow both Bara and Pereira in a march to the dressing room.More drama followed immediately after the match as a Navy supporter incurred umpire Walia's wrath by encroaching onto the playing error and allegedly hurling abuse at the officiating. The umpire's response matched some of the crunching tackles seen during the match as the intruder was bundled out of the playing area and order was restored.The unsavoury incidents, however, fail to obliterate a sparkling show by Fernandes and Customs' centre-half Errol D'Silva, who virtually ran himself into the pitch with an indefatigable performance.Customs, who looked long shots at even drawing the match, looked heading for a rout before Fernandes drew parity with a fine opportunism in the 28th minute.The slender forward reverse-pushed into goal with his back to the goal following a melee and it transformed fortunes remarkably.Anson Thomas, the Customs 'keeper whobraved a host of offensives in the first-half, experienced a relatively quiet second-half as his opposite number Khand Pal was stretched.Customs went 2-1 ahead after Leonard Pereira found Fernandes with a forward pass. Advancing fluently, Fernandes flicked over a sliding Pal in the 46th minute.Mumbai Customs reflected their superiority in the penalty-corner count (9-7) but both sides surprisingly persisted with direct hits despite unfavourable turf conditions that made dead-halts nigh impossible.Central Railway play Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers (RCF) in the second semifinal tomorrow.Artificial turf hope: ETC Holdings Ltd, suppliers of the artificial turf replacement for the worn out surface at the Mahindra Stadium have informed BHA by fax that repair and installation work on the pitch will commence on April 30.
