Meadows down disjointed Priyadarshini

B D Narayankar

bapun@sakalherald.com

KHADKI: Green Meadows overcame a spirited but disjointed Priyadarshi 2-0 to gain vital points in the All India Dr Ambedkar Memorial Hockey Tournament played at Ammunition Factory Ground here on Tuesday.

Goals by Rishikesh Kulkarni (54the minute) and Atul Kalate (57th) set up the tone for Green Meadows while Priyadarshini missed so many opportunities inspite of a good show put up by their forward Randip Bhatti.

Green Meadows raised the level of their game when it mattered most
and clearly, they were the fitter and better organised team than Priyadarshini who simply did not have the ammunition to counter their opponents.

The barren first half did not reveal what Green Meadows had in store for Priyadarshini in the second. But the glimpse of their attacking game gave indications to Priyadarshini that it would not be an easy going in the next 35 minutes of play.

And the Meadows unleased their attack after failing to make any headway in the first half. They constantly attacked the opponents danger area. Priyadarshini defenders made valiant efforts to save goals. But as the match progressed, they could not sustain the blazing game of Meadows.

A two-goal blitz in the span of three minutes in the second-half effectively closed the game in Priyadarshini's favour.

Prashant Gaikwad came up with a perfect centre hit to Sachin Bhondave who deflected the ball to right winger Rishikesh Kulkarni who flicked home the first goal for Meadows.

Rushikesh Mukherjee weaved a fantastic diagnal pass to Atul Kalate. From the centre of the D he blazed one into Priyadarshini's goal, taking the score to 2 goals to nil.

Priyadarshini made a few concerted attempts at Meadows goal, but could not beat their goalkeeper who easily parried the attempts.

Meanwhile, Metro Sports Club trounced Friends Union Club (FUC) 2-1 in an exciting encounter. The first goal was scored by Manish Yadav on a pass from Vijay Singh in the 21st minute. But, FUC retaliated and scored the equalizer through a beautiful combination of Kunal Jagdale and Ibrahim Sheikh in the 31st minute.

Sheikh gave a wonderful pass to Kunal who made no mistake in flicking the ball home. However, Shoib Ansari’s solo goal in the 55th minute sealed the fate of FUC. Shoib scooped the ball in after the ball deflected of the right goal post to the left.

SCORES: Green Meadows 2 (Rishikesh Kkulkarni, Atul Kalate) bt Priyadarshini 0; Metro Sports Club 2 (Manish Yadav, Shoib Ansari) bt Friends Union Club 1 (Kunal Jagdale).