Triumphant return for A-I

But it was a performance which Air-India would not be too happy about. They looked rusty and playing a tournament after a gap of three months, they did not look sharp enough.

The passes were falling short and the midfield, manned by the likes of Gavin Ferreira and Darryl D8217;Souza, looked confused for many periods in the match.

Western Railway were running them ragged with their skill and two beautiful goals by their forwards virtually stole the thunder from Air-India8217;s triumph.

There was one decisive phase in the match, where Western8217;s fortunes swung back and forth. It was from the 40th minute when Air-India scored their second goal, Western replied with their second equaliserof the game but Air-India struck back with the next move and scotched any hopes Western would have had of staging another fightback.

Air-India started without Darryl in the midfield and they looked out of depth in the initial stages. They were struggling to string their usual brand of hockey that involves a lot of passing, back and forth. The three month haetius after participating in the National championships at Hyderabad was showing.

Western8217;s traditional style was hurting them. D Gupta, Chander Pal and Santha Kumar8217;s skill in the midfield and Mukhtiar Singh8217;s bursting speed could have been a lethal combination, but they were kept out by the A-I defence, which was well manned by the former international Cornelius D8217;Costa.

Typically, Air-India got their first goal through a penalty corner 8212; Cornelius selling a dummy, the ball arriving for Rajesh Chavan to push it in.

Air-India looked potent whenever they got a corner with even the second corner creating some panic in the Western defence.

Westernwere quick to respond with a goal in the 27th minute 8212; Anand Sodkar from left hitting to Santha Kumar on the top of the area on the right. His hit towards the goal was deflected in by Dinesh Gupta with Air-India goalkeeper already committed to diving to the wrong side.

The period after Western8217;s equaliser was dreadful for Air-India. They very nearly lost the match with Chander Pal having two beautiful openings. On the first occasion, his hit was blocked by A-I goalkeeper PU Boppanna. His second opportunity came with a beautiful run that started from the half-line and ended with a diving hit run even as the ball was running away from him. Unfortunately, the hit went just wide off the mark.

Air-India then took the lead for the second time in the match 8212; Kishore Kumar8217;s cross from the right had the Western goalkeeper D Alexander stretching but letting it go beneath his right leg. Gavin just deflected it and the ball trickled in.

Three minutes later, Anand Sodkar8217;s forward hit on the right was sweetlydeflected in by Chander Pal but Air-India found their third lead, Kishore Kumar diving and scooping the ball past Alexander.