Indian Oil beats Namdhari XI via golden goal to lift Nehru title

New Delhi, Nov 25 (UNI) Deepak Thakur scored one goal and initiated another as Indian Oil took the Golden Goal route to tame Namdhari XI 2-1 and lift the 45th Nehru Hockey Tournament here today.

Both the teams were level 1-1 at regulation time after Deepak had opened the account for the winners in the 14th minute and Sher Singh (49th) drew parity for Namdharis.

Earlier, Punjab Police beat Bharat Petroleum 7-6 to finish third after they scored the Golden Goal through Jugraj Singh to seal the match.

The regulation time saw both the teams tied at 6-6.

Jugraj Singh converted four penalty corners, while the goal getters for Punjab Police included Deepak Kumar and Baljit Dhillon.

For Bharat Petroleum, Pundalik Bellary slammed three goals, while Joginder Singh, Vikramjeet Singh and Ravi Pal chipped in one each.

Playing their second Nehru final -- they had won it in 2000 - Indian Oil threatened to sweep away Namdhari mounting waves of attacks with internationals Deepak Thakur and Prabhjot Singh running through the porous rival defence.

Deepak showed his class in the sixth minute when he ran around three dumbfounded Namdhari defenders and fed Nitin Kumar but the latter's full-blooded reverse shot came off the post and Bharat Chikara had all the time of the world to score off the rebound but the Oilman fumbled.

Within five minutes, Deepak was at it again and Chikara was culprit again as his weak push was parried away by the goalkeeper.

Deepak took the cudgel himself and came up with a stunning goal to cap a move initiated by Chikara. Chikara's pass split the Namdhari defence to reach a Prabhjot who darted through the left and sent a diagonal pass for Deepak who, before sliding, pushed it past the Namdhari goalkeeper to make it 1-0.

The Oilmen could have gone up in the 34th minute but Deedar Singh's push had neither power nor direction and his reverse shot from the rebound also went wide.

Namdhari looked a different side in the second half and by then, the Oilmen looked quite jaded. Namdhari forced their first penalty corner in the 49th minute and though Indian Oil custodian managed to block Jatinderpal Singh's go at the goal, he could not fully clear it and Sher Singh scored from the goalmouth scramble to equalise.

To break the 1-1 deadlock after the regulation time, the Golden Goal rule was enforced and before their rivals could settle down, Deepak relayed the ball to Chikara, who showed superb control, dodged a defender before breaking into the D and then unleashing a scorcher that shook the cage and sealed the match in Indian Oil's favour.

The winners were richer by Rs two lakh, while the runners up pocketed Rs one lakh.

UNI AY PM VC1755