Customs rally to upset MbPT 3-1

Customs rally to upset MbPT 3-1
RAYMOND FERNANDES

MUMBAI, JANUARY 11: Mumbai Customs made scoring look so simple. They were trailing by a goal at half-time and were under pressure right through. But the easy manner in which they upset the apple cart of Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) with three seemingly facile second-half goals (3-1), drew applause from the sparse crowd, which had turned up for the opening day’s games of the 39th All-India Bombay Gold Cup Hockey Tournament which got under way at the Mahindra Stadium, Churchgate, on Thursday.

The heroes of Customs’ triumph were Suresh Pereira and Stanley Fernandes. The latter restored parity in the 39th minute after MbPT were leading with a 23rd minute Javed Shaikh goal. Suresh helped himself to a fine brace, thereafter, to seal victory in the dying minutes of the game.

Earlier in the other first-round tie, Indian Navy trounced a hapless BHA President’s XI, 6-0, with three goals in each half. They now await the winner of the South-Central Railway vs RCF (Mumbai) encounter, scheduled to be played on Saturday, January 13.

MbPT had a better share of the exchanges as well as goal-scoring chances. Their pressure could be gauged from the fact that they had seven penalty-corners, while Customs came by only one such award in the entire game.Javed Shaikh’s goal from a penalty-corner in the 23rd minute gave Port Trust the advantage over their opponents. But a stray raid down the left flank between Suresh Pereira and Mujeeb Kazi saw Stanley neatly placing the ball past MbPT goalkeeper Sandeep Sagune, to level terms four minutes after the start of the second-half.

Customs goalkeeper Anson Thomas, who had brought off a fine save in the first-half, heaved a sigh of relief when Salauddin Siddique shot wide off the target from close after having the ’keeper at his mercy.

Suresh Pereira then got into his scoring act for Customs five minutes from the end. He first neatly deflected the ball past goalkeeper Sagune following a free-hit by Romeo Albuquerque just outside the circle. Suresh then wrote finis to MbPT’s chances with another goal, three minutes from the close.

EASY FOR SAILORS: Navy were off to a good start when Robindo Singh Okram found the mark early in the fifth minute, following a pass from AU Haque. Navy captain PL Murugappan made it 2-0 for the sailors when he slammed home from a penalty-corner in the 18th minute. It was Manoj Lokhande who made it 3-0 when he scored an opportunistic goal, following another penalty-corner in the 23rd minute.

JP Ekka, Sikanar Singh and Murugappan scored in that order in the second-half to give the sailors a flying start.