Last year's runners-up Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited cruised past Union Bank of India 4-2 in a Pool C league match of the 53rd All India Bombay Gold Cup hockey championship on Tuesday.
BPCL took the lead through Abharan Sudevs penalty corner conversion in the first quarter before Union Bank restored parity in the second quarter through captain Anurag Sharma's efforts to go into the break tied at 1-all.
After switching sides, BPCL struck two goals in the third quarter with Sudev (36th minute) and Shivam Anand (45th minute) finding the target from field efforts to give the team a 3-1 lead.
The oilmen extended their lead when Rabichandran Moirangthem scored another field goal in the 50th minute before Vinod Saini converted from a penalty corner to help Union Bank cut the margin of defeat.
Later, Uttar Pradesh XI -having reached Mumbai late last night- showed no signs of tiredness and they fought back to share honours with Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala in a 2-2 draw in a Pool D match.
The Kapurthala side scored two goals through Baljeet Singh and Sanklap Singh to enjoy a 2-0 lead. Uttar Pradesh, who wasted chances galore, managed to find the mark with Faiz Sarwan and Atul Deep striking a goal each.