Local outfit Western Railway put on a spirited rally to prevail over Punjab National Bank (PNB), Delhi, 3-1 in the final and emerge champions of the 12th PMC Bank-Guru Tegh Bahadur All India Gold Cup Hockey Championship here today.
PNB snatched the lead through Arjun Antil in the 20th minute before Western scored three goals through Malak Singh (32nd minute), Rajan Kandulina (40th) and Ayyappa (53rd) to clinch the top honours.
Western played a patient waiting game as their opponents adopted a defensive approach in the first half. The railwaymen were unable to break through the tight marking defence initially and conceded the initiative as PNB took the lead against the run of play.
The goal came about from a well-constructed move started by Gagandeep Singh to open up the Western defence. Gagandeep, after picking up the return pass from Ravindra Tewatia, relayed the ball to Sumit Toppo, but his try deflected off a defender's stick to Antil, who tapped in from close.
Western took that setback in their stride and gradually came back into the game. They managed to find the equaliser just before half time through Malak Singh who fired a rasping reverse hit past a host of rival defenders and goalkeeper Jasbir Singh.
Western forced the pace after the break and dictated terms. They kept probing and scored twice during this period to turn the match in their favour.
Ayyappa, with a smart back hit caught the entire PNB defence and goalkeeper on the wrong foot, and the ball went to ab unmarked Kandulina who tapped the ball into an open goal.
Western increased the lead 13 minutes later when Manjinder Singh sent a measured forward pass for Ayyappa to hammer home from close.
