Indian Navy edges past BHA 2-1

Indian Navy defeated Bengaluru Hockey Association 2-1 to notch up its second straight win in Pool 'B' in the 92nd All-India MCC Murugappa Gold Cup hockey tournament here Friday.

In a Pool 'A' match, Indian Army hammered Mumbai Hockey Association 5-1 to open its campaign in style.

The Navy-BHA encounter saw the latter take the lead in the 18th minute when Sharda Nand Tiwari converted a penalty stroke.

Navy hit back in the 27th minute when skipper Bharat Singh slotted in from a penalty corner.

Sunny Malik scored in the final minute to seal a victory and improve Navy's prospects of advancing to the semi-final.

Indian Army conceded a goal in the sixth minute when MHA's no.6 Roshan Keisham sounded the boards from a penalty corner.

The Mumbai team held on to the lead till the end of the first half, keeping the Army forwards at bay.

However, the Army men scored almost immediately at the start of the second half and there seemed to be no stopping them from thereon.

The Army team pumped in five goals leaving the Mumbai HA defence in tatters.

Sajeed Dung Dung opened the account for them, from a penalty corner. Jitender increased the tally in the 44th minute, which was a field goal.

The Army side scored three more goals in the next 10 minutes (50th, 56th and 60th) to complete an authoritative victory.

Biraj Ekka, Gurpreet Singh and Sarin were the ones to find the back of the net.

Results: Pool A: Indian Army bt Mumbai HA 5-1; Indian Navy bt Bengaluru HC 2-1.