A bunch of youngsters doing the champion dance on the hockey turf in sweltering heat may sound strange but that’s how the Railways (RSPB) hockey team celebrated after retaining the sixth National men’s hockey championship title with a 6-5 (2-2) win over favourite Punjab in the final here on Sunday.
It was Punjab’s game to lose and the side faltered at the final hurdle, going down in the shootout after the teams were tied 2-2 at the end of regulation time at the Chandgiram Sports Complex. With this, Railways also proved its title last year was no fluke, upping its game when needed most.
Punjab, having won all his games so far comprehensively, was let down by complacency and an off day, unable to execute anything it tried. The players were off-target, the planning unclear and the passings and trappings faulty.
On the other hand, Railways did not lose control of the game despite trailing twice. The match was scrappy but Railways managed to negate Punjab’s attacking strengths. It also conceded just three penalty corners and earned seven, converting one and earning a stroke off another that led to the equaliser deep into the fourth quarter.
With a large number of turnovers and rough tackling from both sides, play was restricted largely to the midfield. It took till the end of the second quarter for a deflection of RSPB goalkeeper Jugraj Singh’s pads to give Punjab the lead.
That didn’t stay long and Amit Rohidas finally came good in his fifth attempt to level the scores. RSPB began pushing ahead in the third quarter and dominated the game. Affan Yousuf failed to get a goal but created at least four penalty corners.
The last of RSPB’s seven penalty corners came in the 59th minute and a goal-line body save by the Punjab defender resulted in a successful stroke that took the game into shootout.
There was further drama when the teams were tied 3-3 in the shootout, before Gurvinder Singh Chandi’s shot hit the side netting to hand over the title to RSPB.
“It just wasn’t our day. We lost in the shootout but to be honest, we did not play well even before that. It happens, some days nothing goes your way, things that you do as a routine don’t work out. We missed chances, failed to back up each other and anything that could go wrong, did,” Punjab captain Gurbaj Singh admitted.
Gurbaj was one of the players who missed in the tie-breaker, hurrying his shot and shooting wide in the process. “ Haan, thoda zyada hi jaldi kar diya (yes I hurried a bit too much),” a disappointed Gurbaj said, aware that his conversion could have given his team the title. For the rest of the game, however, he was one of the few in his team who came out well.
“We were actually confident of winning in the regulation time because we know our strengths. Ours is a good mix of experience and youth and the emphasis on hockey in Railways in the last one year had helped firm up our team,” Yousuf said.
The result: Final: RSPB 2 (Amit Rohidas 2) bt Punjab 2 (Vikramjit Singh, Varun Kumar) in shootout (4-3).
