Late bloomers ONGC stun star-studded IOC
New Delhi   24-Nov-2011

It started off as a sleeper and ended as the best match of the competition so far. And 10 minutes were all it took for ONGC to turn the tables on a star-studded IndianOil team and take the last semi-final slot at stake in the 48th Nehru senior hockey tournament on Wednesday.

While IOC paid the price for their profligacy, ONGC were rewarded for their consistency against a team they have now beaten more than five times in the past one year, including the semi-finals of the same event last year.

For the first 35 minutes, there were no signs that the talent on display in the match was among the best in India. With the game largely restricted to the midfield, players from both sides appeared clueless and, worse, uninterested in creating any impressive moves.

ONGC were comparatively better off as a team, making a semblance of effort to move upfront and kept IOC goalkeeper Devesh Chauhan on his feet. The forward line of Mandeep Antil, Gurvinder Singh Chandi and Pramod Kumar combined well and consistently tried to penetrate, but there was not much they could do. IndianOil scored the opening goal against the run of play in the 31st minute, captain Deepak Thakur getting his stick to a Vikas Sharma cross from the right.

Chandi leveled in the 40th minute after combining well in a 1-2 with Bikash Toppo down the left flank and slotting the ball in high past Chauhan. It was followed by another barren spell that saw both teams wasting chances – besides two penalty corners by IOC and one by ONGC, at least three clear chances to score by either team. From the 60th to 70th minute, however, it was a different ball game.

The trigger was Sandeep Antil's goal in the 60th minute that put ONGC, who had to win to advance — IOC could have scraped through with just a draw — ahead. Suddenly, the match came alive as IOC, with more experience in their ranks than perhaps half the teams in the competition put together, appeared to finally shake off the lethargy.

Struggling to stay alive in the tournament, they upped the momentum, began distributing the ball more widely and spread out near the opposition goal to penetrate the gaps. It worked, an unmarked SK Uthappa taking advantage of a defensive lapse to slot in a rebound in the 52nd minute that ONGC goalkeeper Kamaldeep Singh failed to clear properly.

The momentum kept swinging either way, much to the delight of the handful of people who had turned up to watch. Three minutes later, Pramod Kumar made it 3-2 for ONGC after another solo run down the flank. Two minutes later, Roshan Minz made it 3-3, scoring a reverse hit from the top of the D after a brilliant solo effort down the right. Just when it seemed IOC had done just enough to advance, captain Tyron Perera stuck home in the last minute, and the celebrations were yet to die down when the hooter went off, sealing IOC's fate.

The day's other match was a contrast, Bharat Petroleum getting the better of a below-par Air India 2-1 to make the semi-final. Air India, who were assured of a semis spot regardless of the result, appeared content to keep the ball in play. Girish Pimpale scored their only goal in the 33rd minute to put Air India ahead but the second half was a different affair, with BPCL going all out on the attack.

Air India goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh was impressive under the bar, bringing off some fine saves but Hari Prasad finally leveled the score in the 62nd minute before Gurpreet Singh slotted in the winner four minutes later, converting the team's seventh penalty corner. The result put three teams — Air India, BPCL and PSB — level on six points each but the first two teams made it through on the basis of goal difference.