Dynamos have never shown so much teamwork and striking capabilities in the tournament. But when it mattered the most, they delivered and ended up leading the best of three finals 1-0 at the Sector 42 stadium.
Prabhjot Singh did not play the day’s match due to a finger injury. That did not matter really as the rest of the forwardline including Deepak Thakur, Inderjit Chadha and man of the match Rajpal Singh rose to the occasion and ensured victory for their side. Thakur was undoubtedly the live wire for Dynamos in the match. He was a real thorn in the flesh for Hi-Fliers and had to be constantly marked.
On the charge
The local team was on the charge right from the start. The first goal from Sher Singh was a real bolt out of the blue for Hi-Fliers. Sandeep Singh took a free hit from beyond the 25-yard line and the slap shot went deep inside the crowded striking circle. Sher was on the right flank and his deflection shot past Hi-Fliers goalkeeper Bharat Chetri to put the hosts ahead in the second minute.
There was one more scare just after the first goal but Chetri saved well. However, he could do nothing about the second goal which came in the sixth minute from Rajpal. The forward dribbled all the way into the circle from the right flank and, after dodging a couple of defenders, let loose a reverse hit that beat the Hi-Fliers defence without much difficulty and rendered Dynamos 2-0 up. Being two goals down after just six minutes in the match perhaps weighed heavy on the minds of the Bangalore players.
After a lull, Hi-Fliers hit back in the 13th minute with a strike from Sandeep Michael.
 This was the result of a fast counter attack which was initiated by Arjun Halappa, who passed to skipper Tushar Khandekar after making a good run down the field. Khandekar gave a diagonal to the right flank from the centre to Michael, who scored after finding Dynamos goalkeeper Baljit Singh rushing out and leaving the goal unguarded.
Effective marking
Realising that Hi-Fliers could be dangerous, Dynamos marked their rivals well in a bid to prevent any more surprises.
It was from then that Hi-Fliers' form dropped. They lost possession easily and passing was not up to the mark. There were several aerial balls from Hi-Fliers which were not aimed properly and it meant giving possession to the rivals. Their possession improved as the game wore on but it did not serve any purpose really. There was the odd attack from the Bangalore team but the yield was nothing.
Thakur put Dynamos further ahead after striking in the 37th minute. The player, who had been marked all the while, was now alone inside the Hi-Fliers circle. Rajpal gave a long pass near the Hi-Fliers area and it was child's play for Thakur to complete the formalities.
Leaving aside the fact that Hi-Fliers were not able to score field goals, their penalty corner conversion was not upto the mark. Between the 58th and 68th minute, they earned five penalty corners but to no avail. Credit must go to Dynamos' first runner Sandeep Singh for not giving space for the opponents to have a clear shot at the goal.
GM Hariprasad got into the scoring act for Hi-Fliers with one minute to go for the hooter but the game was well and truly lost by then.