Odisha impresses with win over NCOE; IOC drubs Central Secretariat

Odisha has played a brand of hockey that has not been just attractive, but also effective and efficient.

Odisha, undoubtedly, has been the pick of the lot in the 95th MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup All-India hockey tournament here.

Consisting mostly of young players, Odisha has played a brand of hockey that has not been just attractive, but also effective and efficient.

Against a tough opponent like National Centre of Excellence (NCOE, Bhopal), Odisha forwards struck when it mattered to script a 3-2 victory in a Pool-B contest on Sunday.

Later in another Pool-B tie, former champion IOCL was ruthless in its 7-0 thrashing of Central Secretariat. At this point, Odisha, with seven points from three matches, is best-placed to enter the knock-outs (semifinals) from its group.

For all the domination of Odisha in the first quarter — it had six penalty corners — it was NCOE that drew first blood through Sathish in the second. Odisha equalised in a matter of minutes. It looked like NCOE would emerge winner after a strong third quarter when it had more ball possession, and the goal scored through a penalty corner conversion by its captain Faraz Md. showed that it had the edge.

Possessing wonderful dribbling skills and coupled with excellent speed and 1-2 passes, Odisha came back strongly to score twice in the fourth quarter to seal the match.

The results: