Hockey Uttarakhand edge past Hockey Rajasthan 5-3

High on spirits, teams registered their respective wins at the 5th Sub Junior National Hockey Championship 2015 (Men) 'B' division

- Dadra & Nagar Haveli Hockey Association defeated Hockey Bhopal 2-1
- The Mumbai Hockey Association Ltd thrashes Assam Hockey 7-3
- Hockey Madhya Pradesh outclassed Kerala Hockey 6-2
- Hockey Uttarakhand edge past Hockey Rajasthan 5-3

Jammu (Jammu & Kashmir), 10 May 2015: Continuing to display excellent on-field strategies, the teams enthralled the spectators yet again at the 5th Sub Junior National Hockey Championship 2015 (Men) 'B' division.

It was an exciting day where Dadra & Nagar Haveli Hockey Association trounced Hockey Bhopal with a narrow margin of 2-1. The second clash saw The Mumbai Hockey Association Ltd emerging as the winner over Assam Hockey by 7-3. In the third match, Hockey Madhya Pradesh defeated Kerala Hockey 6-2 which was followed by another win for Hockey Uttarakhand who proved its mettle by beating Hockey Rajasthan 5-3.

The first match of the day between Dadra & Nagar Haveli Hockey Association and Hockey Bhopal was an interesting clash where the latter went down against the former to 1-2. Both the teams were looking at striking early but it was Dadra & Nagar Haveli Hockey Association who got its breakthrough in the initial 11 minutes of the game through Nilesh Kathoute's field effort. As Hockey Bhopal was unable to capitalize on any scoring opportunities in the first half, the scores stood at 1-0 in favour of Dadra & Nagar Haveli Hockey Association. The second half of the game started with same poise and Nilesh Kathoute of Dadra & Nagar Haveli Hockey Association again struck a brilliant field goal in the 49th minute which doubled the team's lead to 2-0. However, it was in the last minute (69th minute) that Hockey Bhopal finally broke the shackles and opened its account through a penalty corner conversion by Yasir Jafri, reducing the margin to 1-2 but it was too late as Dadra & Nagar Haveli Hockey Association won the match by 2-1 over Hockey Bhopal.

In the Pool A match, The Mumbai Hockey Association Ltd thrashed Assam Hockey by 7-3 with the help of Shreyas Dhupe's spectacular hat-trick and Ameen Rogay's brilliant brace. The Mumbai Hockey Association Ltd dominated the match from the first minute and Ameen scored a goal in 6thminute, followed by a penalty conversion in the 9th minute of the match. After conceding two goals from Ameen, Assam Hockey counter attacked and Arjun Bhagat hit the ball hard into the goal-box to take the score-line 1-2.The Mumbai Hockey Association Ltd fought back and earned a penalty corner in 29th minute, which was perfectly converted by skipper Tikaram Thakulla. After the goal, Assam again counter-attacked and Manish Sahani scored two back-to-back goals in 33rd and 39th minute to equalise the score-card by 3-3. From here, The Mumbai Hockey Association Ltd played a marvellous hockey, and Shreyas and Parneet Naik scored a goal each in 47th and 50th minute of the match respectively. Leading 5-3, The Mumbai Hockey Association Ltd's star player Shreyas scored two more goals in 54th and 59th minute, and helped his team to register a thumping 7-3 victory over Assam Hockey.

In a Pool B match, Hockey Madhya Pradesh outwitted Kerala Hockey with a 6-2 on the score board. Both the teams were seen playing defensively but it was Hockey Madhya Pradesh who drew its fist blood in the early nine minutes of the game when Captain Vijay Yadav slapped the nets of the other team. Making full use of the penalty corner awarded in the 24th minute, Arun Pal surged ahead and converted it into a goal to double the lead to 2-0. Hockey Madhya Pradesh did not stop here and kept attacking the opponent's D as Vijay Yadav bagged the third goal for his team in the 30th minute followed by two beautiful field goals by Rishabh Anand Kushwaha and Kuwer Singh Marvi in the 35th and 42nd minute respectively to take the lead at 5-0. It was then Kerala Hockey who displayed wonderful stickwork which gave them their first goal through a penalty corner conversion by Athulc in the 51st minute. Denying to give away easy scoring to the opponents, Rishabh Anand Kushwaha in the 54th minute dextrously scored a field goal to increase the margin by 6-1 in favour of Hockey Madhya Pradesh. In the dying minutes of the game, Amal Augustine. P.S of Kerala Hockey made some clever moves and added the second goal for his team in the 63rd minute but it did not affect the final outcome as Hockey Madhya Pradesh won the match by 6-2.

The last match of the day was an exciting affair as Hockey Uttarakhand trounced Hockey Rajasthan by 5-3. . Both the teams made constant efforts to pierce the defence of the other in search of an initial opening and it was Hockey Uttarakhand who took the lead in the 18th minute through Sumit Kumar. Taking the lead to 2-0, Keshav Sharan scored the second goal in the very next 19th minute in favour of Hockey Uttarakhand. Providing much needed support to his team, Sumit Kumar struck two consecutive goals in the 23rdand 24th minute advancing the lead to 4-0. Hockey Rajasthan showcased brilliant on- field skills and attacked the opponent's defence in the 38th minute when Sahil Tiwari converted a penalty stroke to open the team's score card. The star player Sumit Kumar added the fifth goal in support of Hockey Uttarakhand in the 43rd minute which was very well answered by Himanshu Sharma of Hockey Rajasthan who struck a brace in the 54th and 62nd minute reducing the margin to 3-5. But, the match concluded in favour of Hockey Uttarakhand.

Results of the day-

Pool A Dadra & Nagar Haveli Hockey Association 2 Nilesh Kathoute (11min- FG, 49min- FG) vs Hockey Bhopal 1 Yasir Jafri (69min- PC)

Pool A - The Mumbai Hockey Association 7 Ameen Rogay (6min-FG; 9min-PC), Tikram Thakulla (29min-PC), Shreyas Dhupe (47min-FG, 54min-FG, 59min-FG); Parneet Naik (50min-FG) vs Assam Hockey 3 Arjun Bhagat (23min-FG), Manish Sahani (33min-FG, 39min-FG)

Pool B Hockey Madhya Pradesh 6 Vijay Yadav (9min- FG, 30min- FG), Arun Pal (24min- PC), Rishabh Anand Kushwaha (35min-FG, 54min- FG), Kuwer Singh Marvi (42min- FG) vs Kerala Hockey 2 Athulc (51min- PC), Amal Augustine. P.S (63min- FG)

Pool B Hockey Uttarakhand 5 Sumit Kumar (18min- FG, 23min- FG, 24min- FG, 43min- FG), Keshav Sharan (19min- FG) vs Hockey Rajasthan 3 Sahil Tiwari (38min-PS), Himanshu Sharma (54min- FG, 62min- FG)

Schedule (Monday, 11 May 2015)