What should have been a thriller and a fight to the finish turned out to be a rather dull match. Defending champions Orissa Steelers defeated Sher-e-Jallandhar 2-0 on Thursday to book the last semifinal spot in the Premier Hockey League here.

With this result, Steelers, the defending champions, and Hyderabad Sultans finished level on 11 points. Steelers took the third spot on the league table as they had a better goal difference as compared to the Sultans.

In the semifinals on Saturday, league table toppers Chandigarh Dynamos will take on Sultans, while Bangalore Hi-Fliers will lock horns with Steelers.

After having reached a stage where they could have made it to the semifinals, seeing Shers fizzle out like they did on Thursday was an eyesore. There were several good exchanges in the beginning and it looked like Shers were determined not to let go of the affair so easily. However, what looked very promising in the beginning turned out to be a mirage. Whenever Shers attacked, it was just a one-man show. It was either Gagan Ajit Singh or Jarnail Singh who went on with some solo runs. Naturally, with no support for the duo, the team looked completely at sea. This has been their problem in the league this time around since Gagan does not have the kind of support he got last year from the now-retired Baljit Singh Dhillon and Tejbir Singh, who was banned for unsporting behaviour in the previous edition of the PHL. Also, Shers had to get past the solid defence of Dilip Tirkey and Korean Kim Chul,

On the day, Shers' expert drag-flicker Jugraj Singh was moved up and he played in the midfield. This was a move that backfired as he did nothing sensational and a bad trap from him resulted in a goal for Steelers.

When it came to the Steelers, it was precision play. Steelers' Joga Singh showed the sting that was needed to shake up the rival deep defence. When they moved up, they did so in full might with midfielder Ignace Tirkey and Pakistan's Shakeel Abbasi being the ones who provided the flamboyance.

Ignace drew first blood for Steelers in the 22nd minute.  After Shers helped the rival team by muffing up while passing, Steelers' Ajitesh Rai got the ball on the left flank and relayed the ball to Roshan Minz who did well to pass the ball to the left flank after he saw that Ignace was well positioned. Ignace turned the ball to his left and sent in a sharp reverse hit near the far post.

Steelers were soon smiling again as the second goal came in the 41st minute, the result of Jugraj Singh messing up while receiving a pass in the midfield. Roshan Minz took the ball and sent it to man of the match Birendra Lakra, who was positioned towards the right flank. Birendra's hit found the net after touching Shers' goalkeeper Salman Akbar's pads.

There was a little bit of drama towards the end. Shers were taking a penalty corner but umpire Parnam Singh signaled the stop of the match even before the corner was finished. The short corner had to be taken again but nothing came out of it.