Chennai: Indian Navy started the 93rd MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup with a win by edging Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu 3-2 in the opener at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium here on Thursday.
The scorers for Indian Navy were Aakib A Rahim (15’), Kuldeep (17’) and TE Palangappa (43’, while K Selva Raj (13’) and Joshva (39’) scored for the host.
Despite seeing lot of balls in its side for the most part of the first quarter, Tamilnadu opened the scoring in the 13th minute with Selva Raj scoring off a rebound. However, when it looked like the hosts would get to the second quarter with a lead, the away team just at the last minute scored with Aakib hitting one into the net.
Navy, right from the start of the second quarter started dominating the proceedings and at the 17th minute, they scored off a penalty corner in the 17th minute to give the team the lead. With no further challenge from HUT, Navy went into the third quarter with a slender lead of 2-1.
HUT came back strong in the third quarter and Tamil Nadu’s Johva scored through a reverse hit from near the edge of the box. However, it took just four minutes for Navy to restore its one-goal cushion. Palangappa took advantage of a penalty corner in the 43rd minute, giving the away side a 3-2 lead going into the final quarter.
Despite several attempts in the last quarter, Tamilnadu could not find the third goal in the final stages and lost the game 2-3. The home side nest plays Railway Sports Promotion Board on Friday.
In another match on the day, Bengaluru Hockey Association posted a come-from-behind 4-2 victory over Punjab National Bank.