Tatas manage to stay afloat

A penalty stroke converted in the 27th minute by Claes Ferreira was the only first half aberration for Navy who dominated the contest even if there was hardly any exchange of fire between the two.

But Navy reacted positively to the break, slamming in two within the first eight minutes as Tatas gasped for breath and stared at a defeat. First, Navy’s PL Murugappa was sent sprawling by a rasping cross from the hard working team-mate S Gorde in the 40th minute. Murugappa, however, extended his stick far enough to edge the ball, cricket style, and it flew past Tatas goalkeeper A Girish’s left.

Three minutes later, HS Bhist scored off a penalty corner — their sixth but the first one in which the ball was stopped properly. Navy earned eight penalty corners while Tatas got nine, a total of 17 out of which two resulted in goals.

But Tatas did better in the latter half after Navy seemed set to dominate the contest following a competent the first half display. Despite the two goals, Tatas seemed in the race all the time though their chances looked increasingly bleak as the match progressed, till the 59th minute when Ali struck.