Mumbai : Local challengers Western Railway were made to work hard for their 3-0 win against qualifiers Union Bank of India in a Pool-A round-robin league match of the 11th Guru Tegh Bahadur Gold Cup All India Hockey Tournament
Penalty corner specialist Amit Rohidas (19th minute-PC), Malak Singh (52nd) and Jaykaran (64th) scored for Western.
Earlier in a Pool-B encounter, Northern Railway scored twice in each half to hand last year’s runners-up South Central Railway a 4-1 defeat in Pool-B. 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.
The experienced Western side started in an attacking fashion against the Union Bank outfit and forced a penalty corner in the very second minute, but failed to convert. Western broke the Union Bank resistance via Rohidas goal. Midway through the second session Western added the second goal when Amit Gowda from the right found Malak Singh ideally positioned inside the circle. Malak trapped the ball, weaved around a rival defender and fired home in the 52nd minute before Jaykaran from a snap effort struck the third in the 64th minute.
