The Hindu : Hockey: AP holds Maharashtra

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 17, 2002

Sport

Sport - National Games

Hockey: AP holds Maharashtra

By V.V. Subrahmanyam

HYDERABAD DEC.16. A gem of a goal from the mercurial centre-forward Dhanraj Pillay saw Maharashtra hold Andhra Pradesh to a one-all draw in a crucial Pool `B' league match of the 32nd National Games hockey competition here today.

After today's result, the issue of qualification for the knockout phase is still wide open.

In a match widely tipped as the contest between Dhanraj Pillay, leading Maharashtra, and Mukesh Kumar, leading the host, it was Maharashtra that was the more dominant and enterprising. This despite Mukesh Kumar showing his touch of class with an exquisite effort in the second minute when he dribbled his way down the right flank to essay a perfect carpet drive into the Maharashtra goal (1-0).

In the counter-attack launched by Maharashtra with Dhanraj in the forefront, Andhra defence was repeatedly tested. The way the wily striker worked in tandem with the imaginative Shanta Kumar on the left flank was a lesson for any youngster. Feeding the two with impeccable passes was the energetic Vikram Pillay.

Maharashtra could have scored the equaliser much earlier but for custodian Edwards Alloysisus, who had a wonderful outing, blocking six hard-hit penalty-corners. Mukesh was bottled up on the right flank, and compounding his problems was the inability of centre-half Johnson Ekka to stick to the game plan of being upfront.

Andhra seemed to be in a defensive mood throughout and Dhanraj exploited this in the 30th minute with a gem of a goal. Picking up a loose ball from near the half-line on the right-flank, the triple Olympian slipped into the left-flank close to the striking circle leaving the entire Andhra defence on the other side. Though goalkeeper Edwards showed good anticipation, Dhanraj's amazing reverse flick on the run beat him all ends up.

That effort left the entire Andhra camp stunned and from then on the only saving grace for the host was the solid work put up in the defence by Dilip Tirkey.

Maharashtra could have scored the match-winner in the 52nd minute but for the goal-line clearance by Ajay Bharathi.

Earlier, the match was delayed by 15 minutes with the Maharashtra camp protesting against the inclusion of `imports' Dilip Tirkey, Bimal Lakra, Rajnish Mishra and Samid Dad in the Andhra team. Even Karnataka has lodged objections on this front, it is said. The Games Technical Conduct Committee will take a final decision on these four players on Tuesday.

The results: Pool A: Chandigarh drew with Tamil Nadu 1-1; Punjab drew with Services 1-1.

Pool B: Maharashtra drew with AP 1-1; Karnataka bt Bengal 6-2.

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