Central Excise shocked local favourites Indian Overseas Bank 4-2 and sealed their quarterfinal berth in the 1st Syed Ahmed Memorial All India Invitation Hockey Tournament at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium on Wednesday. Southern Railways progressed with a 3-0 win over Sports Authority of India.
Stephen Babu’s sixth-minute goal set the tone for Central Excise. But IOB’s persistence paid off and they equalized in the 25th minute through Shanmugam. Excise, though, reclaimed their lead in the 33rd minute, and thereafter struck goals at regular intervals. Merwyn Joy doubled the lead in the 42nd minute before Sathya Rajan converted a penalty corner the next minute.
IOB weren’t let even foothold on the match and by the time they realised the second goal, from DS Darshan’s stick in the 67th minute, the contest was as good as over. Central Excise’s Aravind was adjudged man of the match.
Results: Southern Railway 3 (Kamala Kannan 38, N Suresh 47, 51) bt Sports Authority of India 0.