Central Railways prevail

Photo by Parag Jadhav

A Central Railways' striker barging into Priyadarshini's danger zone

B D Narayankar

bapun@sakalherald.com

KHADKI: The gloomy weather had no influence on hockey-lovers as they watched an extra-ordinary match between Central Railways and hosts Priyadarshini Sports Centre which the former won 1-0 in the Rosary Education Group Nine-a-Side Hockey Tournament played at Ammunition Factory Ground on Monday.

Both teams picked up their game in the last 15 minutes of the match. It was great to watch supporters cheering for their respective teams. Outstanding among Central Railway players were Sachin Kamble and Ashish Bhosale, who showed their class along with speed while unlocking opponent’s defense.

Equally good was Priyadarshini’s Shailesh Garware, making attempts to drill holes into Railways defense, without much success. His teammates could not match his pace and were wanted in trapping the ball.

Sachin put Central Railways ahead in 15th minute of the first half. He ran into the box and gave a hurried pass to right-winger Ashish Bhosale who centered the ball back to Sachin who made no mistake dragging the ball in.

In the same minute, Sachin could have given Central Railways their second goal, but his stinging shot hit the side bars and cleared the playing area, giving Priyadarshini a free hit

It could have been worst for Priyadarshini if Salil Sheikh would not have pulled off two beautiful saves in 30th and 33rd minute.

In yet another match, Super XI trounced counterpart Indian Sports 2-0. Santosh Musale scored the first goal in 16th and Ganesh Shirke second in 33rd minute of the game.

BOX

The first match of the day was marred by a controversy that led the organisers to keep the fate of the match in abeyance. The decision to replay the match will be decided by the organising committee on Tuesday.

The controversy erupted when Ramakant Karle of Railway Police rushed toward umpire Sikandar Sheikh, objecting his awarding a goal to Old Boy’s Association.

After heated arguments, Sikandar consulted his associate umpire Kiran Khairale, who disallowed the goal. Then OBA players protested and walked of the ground.

RESULTS: Central Railways 1 (Sachin Kamble) bt Priyadarshini 0; Super XI 2 (Santosh Musale, Ganesh Shirke) bt Indian Sports 0; Metro XI 2 (Vinod Kelappan, Rakesh Pollaiah)