Defending champions Army XI fought back from a two-goal deficit to put it across Hockey Bhopal 5-4 in pool A and keep their qualifying chances afloat in the 48th Bombay Gold Cup hockey tournament here today.
The Bangalore-based army outfit led 2-1 at half time before slumping 2-4 behind before pumping in three goals in the last 11 minutes to notch their only win in the pool.
Army XI, who were thrashed 4-1 by Western Railway in the three-team pool, now await the result of the last pool game between the railwaymen and Bhopal tomorrow to see whether they top the group and progress to the semis.
In the second game of the day, Punjab and Sind Bank drubbed local team Indian Navy 10-0 after leading 5-0 at half-time to send the sailors out of the tournament with two defeats in as many games in pool B.
The goal scorers for the bankmen, who play Air India on Thursday to decide who qualifies from this pool for the semis, were Karamjit Singh (2), Sarvanjit Singh (2), Parminder Singh (2), Gurvinder Singh (2), Ajit Pandit and Tasveerjit Singh.
Bhopal shocked the army team by striking in the 3rd minute of the game with a field goal by Azam Baig.
Army XI clawed back to take a 2-1 lead by finding the mark through a penalty corner goal from A P Siraju, who later scored their fourth goal to restore parity in the second half, and captain and international Ignace Tirkey.
But the Bhopal outfit stung their rivals by pumping in three field goals within 20 minutes after change of ends to take a handy 4-2 lead.
Syed Irfan Ali got the first before Vikas Chaudhary was on target twice in the space of 13 minutes.
Chandan Aind then reduced the margin for Army XI a minute later and then the Bangalore side scored twice in as many minutes in the last five minutes through Siraju and Binoy Bhengra to seal a hard-fought victory.
