Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited regained the Synergy Sports State Super Division crown  after holding Indian Oil Corporation Limited 2-2 in the last Tier I tie at the KSHA stadium here on Sunday.

Both BPCL and IOCL remained unbeaten in the tournament with the former tallying 22 points from eight outings, while defending champions IOCL ended up with 20.

IOCL, who needed nothing less than a victory were let down by some loose passing and miscued hits in a fitting finale to the one-month League, while BPCL were happy with a draw which ensured that they won the crown back from their arch-rivals.

In a match played amidst frayed tempers, it was IOCL who took the lead in the eighth minute through Hamza Mujthaba who scored off a rebound after BPCL custodian Kuttappa blocked a powerful reverse flick from Tyron Pereira. Gurpreet Singh helped BPCL drew level in the 21st minute in a swift counter-attack which caught the IOCL defence napping.

After the breather, the game turned a little rough with both the teams indulging in some rough tackles. At one stage, referee AB Palangappa, who kept his cool right throughout the game, had to speak to both captains to calm the things down. BPCL’s Irshad Ali and IOCL’s Inderjit Chadda both had to sit out for five minutes each after being shown the yellow card.

After a brief lull in which action was restricted to the midfield, IOCL regained a one goal lead in the 36th minute through Pereira. However, IOCL’s joy was short-lived as Gurpreet Singh restored the parity for BPCL through a set-piece conversion two minutes later.

Having netted the equaliser, BPCL played it safe and restricted the ball to their own half and their joy knew no bounds when the hooter went off.

Central Excise and IAF (Delhi) have been relegated to the ‘A’ Division.

Earlier, Chittaranjan Singh scored three goals (12th, 34th, 56th) and Dhananjay Mahadik a brace (7th, 24th) as Army Red drubbed Canara Bank 8-2. Sunil Ekka (16th) P Kakha (36th), Anil Kumar Ekka (53rd) scored the other goals for the winners while, Kaveriappa (2nd) and Varun (66th) reduced the deficit for the Bankmen.
Despite the victory, Army red had to content with a fourth place finish as Fortis edged them out on goal difference to finish third.

Special awards: Best goalkeeper: Najmuddin (Army Green): Fullback: Dilip Tirkey (Fortis); Half back: Prabdeep Singh (BPCL); Forward: Brojen Singh (Fortis); Player of the tournament: Inderjit Chadda (IOCL); Top scorer: Amar Aiyamma (BPCL) 11 goals.