J''khand beat Maha in extra time to enter men''s hockey final

Ranchi, Feb 24 (PTI) Jharkhand entered the men''s hockeyfinal of the 34th National Games, scraping past Maharashtra2-1 in extra time after their semi-final match, which wasstopped at the 55th minute yesterday, resumed from the sameposition here today.

Resuming the match today, which ended abruptly yesterdayafter it was referred to the technical committee because of adispute over a penalty stroke, Vikas Pillay made no mistake inconverting the penalty and gave Maharashtra a 1-0 lead.

But Maharashtra''s joy was shortlived as Jharkhand forwardRoshan scored a superb goal to restore the parity five minuteslater to take the match into extra time.

It was India player Prabodh Tirkey who gave home fansreasons to cheer when he scored the golden goal from a penaltycorner to take Jharkhand into the final.

Jharkhand will now face Punjab, who beat Services 3-2 inthe other last four match, in the title clash tomorrow.

Yesterday, the match was stopped abruptly following anunruly crowd behavior after the referee awarded a penaltystroke to Maharashtra and Jharkhand players protested againstthe decision.

The match was later referred to the technical committee,who rejected the protest and ordered both the teams to finishoff the game from the same situation today.