Railways and Airlines in final

By Kamesh Srinivasan

Railways 6 (2) -- Punjab 5 (2)

Indian Airlines 6 (2) -- PSB 5 (2)

JAMMU, DEC. 15. When the climax came, the heroes turned nervous, and eventually villains. Baljit Singh Dhillon failed to convert a penalty stroke in the `sudden-death' phase in the tie-breaker, let alone all the penalty corners, and that resulted in Punjab bowing to Railways.

Similarly, Baljit Singh Chandi was erratic and kept missing open chances, after finding the equaliser. Eventually, it was no surprise that Punjab and Sind Bank failed to beat Indian Airlines goalkeeper Ashish Ballal in the tie-break.

For the enthusiasts who thronged the stadium, and who were glued to their television screens as Doordarshan provided `live' coverage, there was no dearth of excitement in the semifinals of the National hockey championship at the K.K. Hakhu Stadium here on Friday.

Though both the matches reached the `sudden-death' phase, it was commendable on the part of Railways, a young team, to have beaten the seasoned Punjab.

The 21-time champion, Railways, made it to its 29th final mainly on its energetic play and the strength of will.

There was a sense of purpose in its ranks, which was eventually emphasised in the end when Ajay Bharti converted the penalty with a firm flick into the top corner, after Baljit Singh Dhillon's shot was blocked by a diving Railway goalkeeper, Ambuj Kumar Srivastava.

In the earlier five attempts, Ajay Bharti, Jagmohan Singh, and Subal Kumar Barla had converted their chances, while Chander Pal's attempt was blocked by Srivastava and Sukhdev Singh hit the post.

For Punjab, Baljit Dhillon started the tie-break well, and the team converted the alternate attempts through Daljit Singh and Avtar Singh, while Jugraj Singh hit the crosspiece and Harmeek Singh scooped into the crowd.

Earlier, Railways needed a good start to make a match of it, and it managed to get off the blocks briskly, as Subal Kumar Barla converted the team's second penalty corner in the fifth minute, with a firm drag.

Baljit Singh Bhullar and Baljit Singh Dhillon put Punjab ahead with their goals in the last six minutes of the first half, with the former cashing in on a rebound, while the latter made a solo move to find the net with a sharp hit from the right.

On resumption, Punjab pressed hard mainly through Baljit Dhillon and to some extent through Jugraj Singh, but the Railways goalkeeper withstood the test manfully. The rest of the Punjab team was less sharp, and it was no surprise that the team missed chances even in the extra-time `golden goal' period.

Punjab forced only five penalty corners, with the first coming in the eighth minute of the second half, but was unable to beat the well-organised Railways defence this day. Baljit Singh Dhillon's drag flicks and the other variations were thoroughly blunted by Railways, and that was a big moral victory for the team.

Railways forced only four penalty corners, but had a 50 per cent strike rate, as Anup Tirkey found the target, off the team's third penalty corner in the 21st minute of the second half. Railways tried hard through Dawood Suleiman and Lalit Ekka, but could not find another goal.

In the other semifinals, Ashish Ballal was the hero as he blocked as many as four attempts in the tie-break. He denied Sharanjit Singh, Prabhdeep Singh and Rajinder Singh before stopping the push by Tejbir Singh in the `sudden-death' phase with his left leg, even as he dived to his right.

After starting the tie-breaker well, with conversions by Sameer Dad and Len Aiyappa, Airlines erred as Bimal Lakra pushed into the pads of the bank goalkeeper Alloysius Edwards; Brojen Singh scooped over while Shakeel Ahmed allowed the goalkeeper to dive to his right and block his push comfortably.

However, the team came alive in the `sudden-death' phase, converting through the successful lads, Sameer Dad and Len Aiyappa.

The way it started, there was no hint of Airlines having to die many a death before living on to fight another day. Brojen Singh put the Airlines ahead in the 11th minute by deflecting with aplomb a Virender Singh drive that was hit with precision from the sideline.

Five minutes later, it was the turn of the unmarked Virender Singh to find the cage, as he capitalised on a pass from the hard-working Sameer Dad. Thereafter, Airlines hardly made a meaningful move, though there was no doubt about the sincerity of Mukesh Kumar and company to beat the bank defence.

It was Punjab and Sind Bank (PSB) which called the shots for the rest of the match, including the `golden goal'. The bankmen found their first goal in the 27th minute of the second half, when Parminder Singh converted the team's fourth penalty corner with a firm hit from the right after Sharanjit Singh put him in possession.

Playing with increased confidence, the bankmen equalised in the 32nd minute through Baljit Singh Chandi. However, Chandi was quite erratic thereafter as he seemed to have forgotten the basics of scoring a goal and could be matched only by Parminder Singh, the other hero of the day for the bank team. The duo seemed to have undone all their good work, with their erratic play, but there was no doubt their effort was good enough to make it an enjoyable experience for the crowd.

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