IndianOil join BPCL at top
Bengaluru   11-Oct-2008
IndianOil thrashed Fortis 3-0 in their seventh game to join defending champions BPCL at the top of the table in the KSHA Super Division hockey league at the SAI South Centre on Friday. With two games in hand, both the teams have 19 points each and the match between the archrivals on Sunday is likely to be the decider, provided both the teams finish their next match with identical points. Fortis, coached by former India goalkeeper Ashish Balal, started the match on the back foot missing as many as six of their top players who were called up for the national conditioning camp in Bhopal. IndianOil, boasting of names like Prabjot Singh, Deepak Thakur and Baljit Singh made maximum use of a depleted Fortis squad to earn a win and join champions at the top. <b>Magical ball control</b> The supremely gifted Prabjot and teammate Inderjit Chadda made some brilliant runs, accompanied by magical ball control in the opening 12 minutes, but unfortunately could not find the target. Finally, Deepak Thakur found the net for IndianOil in the 16th minute with a strike from almost a zero angle. Fortis then tightened their defence with centre-forward Sandeep Michael also moving back. IndianOil, on the other hand continued their attacking spree and if not for some brilliant saves by Fortis goalkeeper, R K Pfokrela, the half-time score that read 1-0, could have easily read 3-0 in favour of IndianOil. In the second half, Fortis, who sorely missed the services of their top scorer Diwakar Ram played better and made numerous raids to the rival citadel. But, this brief run of adrenaline was stopped by Deepak Thakur, who scored his as well as his team's second goal in 40th minute. <b>Attacking moves</b> IndianOil got their third goal from Inderjit Chadda in the 47th minute. Although a victory was almost out of sight for Fortis they never gave up. The highly talented Sandeep Michael came out with some attacking moves, only to be thwarted by IndianOil's keeper Baljit Singh. With a three-goal cushion on their side, Baljit tried displaying his dribbling skills and very nearly paid for it in the 65th minute. After a momentary lapse in concentration, IndianOil held their nerve till the hooter went off to emerge a 3-0 victor. Other results: Army Green: 4 (Banti Singh 36th, Ram Swamy 52nd, 61st, Suresh Kumar 56th) bt KSP: 2 {Pradeep 14th, Magesh 69th). Canara Bank: 4 (Laxman Rao 37th, Somanna 53rd, 58th, Apapanna 64th, John Verghese 68th) drew Army Red: 4 (Rajesh Lakra 8th, Chiataranjan 12th, Sunil 49th, lgnesTirkey 69th). ASC: 1 (Harpreet Singh 58th) drew Namdhari: 1 (Malak Singh 46th).