CHENNAI: Railways Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) defended their All India MCC Murugappa title with a 5-3 victory over Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium here on Sunday. Captain Yuvraj Walmiki's brace along with Pardeep Singh's artistic play in the midfield helped RSPB go all the way.
Yuvraj, Surinder Singh and the sturdy Sayyad Niyaz Rahim mounted early attacks, and this led them to earning five penalty corners inside the first six minutes. After a flurry of unsuccessful PC strikes, Railways drew first blood via Gursahibjit Singh in the fifth attempt. Gursahibjit had to just guide the ball off a thunderous ground stroke from drag-flicker Joginder Singh.
Having unsettled IOCL's defence, Railways doubled the lead through Simranjot Singh (9th). Yuvraj (18th) joined the party and opened his account with a simple tap in. After enduring a prolonged period of offense from Railways, IOCL turned the tide by scoring two goals in the second quarter. In an attacking move, Talwinder (24th), from the left flank, dribbled past a few defenders to the right and hit a shot from an acute angle on the run to open the account. Soon, Gujinder Singh's (29th) PC strike deflected off the stick of the first rusher and goalkeeper Prasant Chauhan was caught off guard.
While IOCL had the psychological advantage at the start of the second half, there was surprise in store for them. Yuvraj produced an excellent play and provided a long pass from behind the half line to Pardeep in the attacking circle. Pardeep, being a team man, guided the ball to a rushing Mukul Sharma (35th) to put it past the keeper.
With the match more or less done, Railways, with a high-press, found the fifth goal in the 58th minute. They built a delectable move as Yuvraj picked out Shivam, who pushed it to Pardeep in the D. The forward, with a gentle push, found a surging Yuvraj and the latter made no mistake and scored his brace. In a matter of a few seconds Rajbir Singh (58th) found the back of the net for IOCL but it came a little too late.
