Railways, IHF Juniors in final

Indian Hockey Federation Juniors on Friday ousted defending champions Punjab and Sind Bank 4-3 to set up a summit clash with former champions Indian Railways in the Murugappa Gold Cup hockey tournament in Madras.

In their respective semi-final matches, Railways beat Air India, Bombay, 2-1 while IHF juniors pipped PSB with a golden goal by Bimal Lakra in the sixth minute of extra-time, after the teams were locked 3-3 at the end of regulation time.

PSB's Sanjeev Kumar scored first and then Ignatius Tirkey equalised for IHF. The bankmen went into the lead again through Rajinder Singh but IHF scored two goals in quick succession through Deepak Thakur (3-2) before Yudhibir Singh Bal made it 3-3 for the bank team.

In extra time, Bimal Lakra converted a penalty-stroke when Tejbir Singh was brought down by PSB's Rajinder Singh.

Air India went into the lead in the fifth minute of the first-half against Railways. Rajesh Chauhan's shot rebounded off goalkeeper Alex David's pads and before any defender could clear the ball, Roshan Tete dived and tapped home.

Most of the second half was dominated by Railways. Down by a goal, they kept up the pressure but squandered three penalty-corners before finding the equaliser.

In the 15th minute, hardworking Iqbal Singh gave a sharp pass to forward Briznev Singh inside the circle, past Anil Aldrin and Cornelius D'Costa. His carpet drive brooked no resistance from goalkeeper Edgar Mascarenhas (1-1).

Railways' relentless attack paid off and they scored the winner in the 58th minute through Anup Tirkey, following a penalty-corner.

Air India tried their best to find the equaliser but the Railways defence thwarted them.