CHENNAI, july 29: The intensity of the contest matched the rivalry of the teams. Holders Indian Airlines and runners-up Air-India dished out entertaining hockey, engaged they were in a 3-3 draw in the MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup hockey tournament at the MRC stadium on Tuesday.

At the end, a win would have suited both teams, but the result was in keeping with the trend which had already seen a couple of unlikely results.

IHF Juniors Eleven, who were on a high on Monday, following the demolition of Indian Airlines went crashing down to Punjab & Sind Bank 1-2. The day's result left all the teams with the hopes of making it to the title fight.

Monday's hat-trick man Virender Singh was a pale shadow of himself, thanks to the tight vigil bank stopper Rajbir Singh had on him. Still Virender added one to his tally, slotting in a penalty stroke in the 20th minute after he was obstructed by Gurcharanjit Singh in a goal-bound move.

Not long after came the equaliser. Parminder banged it in after a stinging Sanjeev Kumar hit came to him en-route goalkeeper Alloysius Edwards.

Just when the teams looked content in sharing honours, Harvinder Singh came good with a penalty corner, goalkeeper Teja Singh beaten by the angle as well by the pace of the effort.

In a contest of a top drawer variety, the two high flying teams came up with some absorbing fare which had the good gathering in thrall. Each time, A-I took the lead, IA came back strongly to negate that. And every effort had that unmistakable spark laced in it.

It was A-I who set the pace initially a little anxious to announce their intentions. A Darryl D'Souza and Davinder Kumar combine found the latter having the first crack at the goal, a stinger of an effort must have been the harbinger for Ashish Ballal at the goal. In what looked an action-replay, the two changed their roles, this time Darryl's stinger found the answer from Bhalla's pads.

The sustained pressure earned A-I a penalty stroke. IA's tall strapping back Harinder came in the way of Alex D'Souza warranting the award. The specialist Surinder Kundu sent Ballal the other way while finding his intention.

Stung to the quick, IA retaliated, Mohd Arif slotting home a penalty corner, the power with which the effort sounded the boards must have a music for the bunch. That set the tune for some more meaningful probings. But Aldrin's penalty corner goal at the stroke of half-time ensured the lead intact for A-I.

Just into the opening minutes of the second half, Arif was in the thick of action, converting a penalty corner taken indirectly to negate the A-I lead. The contest clearly hotted up there with the teams striving to come up with that little extra.

And when Aranha deflected one nonchalantly meeting a Manoj Ekka long ranger, a minute from the end it looked to be their day. Altaf's sweeping backhander was a quick rejoinder almost on time.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.