Railways took the lead in the 21st minute when Karan Pal Singh converted a penalty corner. (Source: File)
Defending champion Indian Railways notched up a second win, beating Punjab & Sind Bank 3-1 in a Pool “A” match of the 91st All-India MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup hockey tournament.
In Pool “B” games, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) thrashed Army XI 5-0 while Punjab National Bank got the better of Central Secretariat Hockey Team 4-1.
Railways took the lead in the 21st minute when Karan Pal Singh converted a penalty corner. However, they had to endure a period of 40 minutes during which they couldn’t breach the PSB defence.
Pardeep Singh broke through to score a field goal in the 60th minute before Arvinder Singh reduced the margin for the bankmen from a penalty corner in the 67th minute. The Railways increased the margin when Ajmer Singh slotted home in the 70th minute to make it 3-1.
Army XI, which was held to a 4-4 draw by Hockey Odisha in its first match, found the going tough as ONGC riding on a brace of goals each by Diwakar Ram and Mitilesh stormed to a 5-0 victory.
Punjab National Bank recovered after an early goal to hammer Central Secretariat Hockey Team 4-1 in a Pool “B” match.
Joshua Vessoakar converted a penalty corner in the 14th minute to put Central Secretariat ahead before PNB equalised in the space of two minutes, through Hardeep Singh’s field goal.
The bankmen took control from that point, creating more opportunities and went into half-time 2-1 in front after Gangandeep Singh found the net in the 31st minute. Shamser Singh added two more goals in the second half, in the 37th and 53rd minutes to seal a comfortable win.
Results: Pool “A”: Indian Railways 3 (Karan Pal Singh 21, Pardeep Singh 60, Ajmer Singh 70) bt Punjab & Sind Bank 1 (Arvinder Singh 67).
Pool “B”: Punjab National Bank 4 (Hardeep Singh 14, Gagandeep Singh 31, Shamser Singh 37, 53) bt Central Secretariat Hockey Team 1 (Joshua Vessoakar 14). ONGC 5 (Diwakar Ram 32, 70, Mitilesh 53, 63, Sumit Kumar 54) bt Army XI 0.
