Karnataka score over ONGC

Last year's semi-finalist Karnataka staved off a strong fightback to get the better of Oil and Natural Gas Commission 3-2 while Tamil Nadu managed to hold Customs and Excise to a 1-1 draw in the 80th MCC Murugappa Gold Cup hockey tournament, in Chennai, on Thursday.

In their Group 'B' encounter at the astro turf stadium, ONGC were outplayed in the first-half in terms of exchanges, but managed to keep the youthful Karnataka attack at bay, mainly because of some splendid work by defender and international Anurag Raghuvanshi.

ONGC went ahead in the 17th minute, when Raghuvanshi converted their first penalty-corner. However, Karnataka equalised five minutes later through P T Aiyappa's reverse flick off a right-flank cross from Cyprian Aind, who along with junior internationals Sandeep Michael, Ignatius Tirkey and playmaker Arjun Halappa, repeatedly tested the ONGC defence.

The teams went to half-time on even keel but soon after the breather, ONGC began matching Karnataka in the exchanges.

In the 62nd minute, they again forged ahead through Raghuvanshi, who converted another penalty-corner (2-1).

Karnataka drew level almost immediately, off another splendid field goal by A K Kevin, who reverse-flicked a feeder from the right flank, beating ONGC goalkeeper Kamaldeep Singh (2-2).

In the dying moments, Karnataka scored the winner, when Ignatius Tirkey managed to catch the ONGC defence off-guard, guiding the cross past the custodian.