Later, local challengers Western Railway trounced qualifiers Union Bank of India 3-0 in a Pool A all-Mumbai round-robin league match.
Harjot Singh (6th), Harish (10th), Harsahib Singh (50th) and Manpreet Singh (55th) scored a goal each for Northern, while South Central Railway scored the lone goal through Manikantan in the 18th minute.
Penalty corner specialist Amit Rohidas (19th minute-PC), Malak Singh (52nd) and Jaykaran (64th) were the goal scorers for Western against UBI.
Harjot, with a firm reverse hit, scored the opening goal in the sixth minute before Harish doubled the lead with a rasping drive from the edge of the circle.
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South Central fought back and reduced the deficit through Manikantan in the 18th minute. But they failed to sustain the momentum and could not produce many goal-scoring opportunities.
Northern kept attacking the rival citadel and got the third goal when Harsahib picked up a rebound from goalkeeper Sushant Tirkey's pads and tapped home in the 50th minute.