IOC wallops Indian Railways to lift Murugappa Gold Cup

CHENNAI:INDIAN Oil Corporation underlined its class, hammering Indian Railways 4-0 in the final Sunday to emerge victorious in the 92nd All-india Mcc-murugappa Gold Cup hockey tournament here.

The formidable IOC team, comprising a number of internationals, dominated the summit clash, after having come through a thrilling semifinal Saturday (against Indian Army).

The Railways, on the other hand, had outplayed Punjab & Sind Bank in the semifinal, but couldn't raise its game when it mattered the most.

The match got off to a quick start with both teams looking to get the breakthrough early to lay down the marker.

Roshan Minz, one of the several IOC players with inter- national experience, opened the scoring when he sounded the boards in the 14th minute.

The Railways' defence came under pressure as the IOC forward-line pushed forward.

IOC increased the lead four minutes later when in-form Gurjinder Singh beat the Railway custodian in the 18th minute from a penalty corner.

It took another three minutes for the team to go 3-0 up as Talwinder Singh slammed home from a penalty corner, putting IOC in control.

Armed with a 3-0 lead at half-time, IOC continued to push ahead even while having to thwart the Railways attempts to find a way back into the match.

IOC scored against the run of play in the 52nd minute through Bharath Chikkara to make it 4-0.