Punjab & Sind Bank Holds Railways to Draw

Chennai, Aug 31 (PTI) Punjab & Sind Bank held a strong Railway Sports Promotion Board team to a 1-1 draw in a Pool 'B' match of the 93rd All India MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup Hockey Tournament here on Saturday.

In other matches, Punjab National Bank defeated Indian Air Force 2-1 while Indian Oil Corporation edged out Indian Army 3-2.

Punjab & Sind Bank took the lead when Gaganpreet Singh found the target from a penalty corner in the 35th minute. Railways equalised three minutes later through PR Aiyappa, who slotted home from a penalty stroke.

There were no more goals though the two teams kept testing out the other's defence for the rest of the match.

IOC, which includes a host of former India stars, fell behind when Army's Jitender Rathee scored in the 15th minute.

Armaan Qureshi hit back for IOC, with a penalty corner conversion in the 19th minute before Affan Yousuf scored in the 32nd minute to put IOC 2-1 ahead.

After a goalless period, Sukhdeep Singh equalised for the Army team, in the 53rd minute, from a penalty corner.

Gurjinder Singh slammed home from a penalty corner in the 56th minute for IOC's match-winning goal.

Satender Dalal (14th minute) and Sukhjeet Singh (32nd minute) scored in Punjab National Bank's 2-1 win over Air Force. Ajit Pandit's 40th minute penalty corner conversion helped IAF reduce the margin. Results: Pool A: Punjab National Bank beat Indian Air Force 2-1; IOC beat Indian Army 3-2. Pool B: 2-2, Railways drew Punjab & Sind Bank 1-1. PTI

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)