Madras Engineer Group and Centre (MEG) defeated Fortis by the odd goal in three after trailing by a goal at the half-way mark in a Tier II State Super Division hockey league encounter at the KSHA stadium here on Sunday.
The comeback win, which was MEG's first in the league, has severely dented Fortis' chances of qualifying for Tier I. Fortis had only themselves to blame for the loss after missing numerous scoring opportunities. Despite his reflexes slowing down, skipper Sandeep Michael did come up with a couple of attacking moves, but when it came to finishing, he was found wanting.
The fact that Fortis had new players joining their ranks didn't help their cause either as lack of cohesion was glaring, especially when it came to set-piece conversions. For, they could not convert any of the seven penalty corners they earned.
Damandeep Singh gave Fortis the lead in the 21st minute after deflecting D P Singh's long pass. Sandeep missed a golden chance to swell Fortis' lead immediately after the break, shooting wide despite MEG custodian Dhanesh being out of position.
The Sappers' relentless pursuit for an equaliser finally fetched them a penalty corner in the 40th minute. Anil Minj converted that to level scores. Four minutes later, MEG went ahead through Rajesh who connected Manikandan's pass. Fortis defender Kulbushan tried to intercept the MEG forward but without success.
Fortis found the going tough after that with MEG defenders keeping them at bay with some tight marking. Shankar Narayan did a good job for Sappers, and when he cleared a penalty corner on his own it was all over for Fortis.
Other result: Army Service Corps: 4 (K P Deepu 11th, 28th, 46th, Sanjay Tete 13th) bt Central Excise: 3 (P A Aiyappa, 3rd, 50th, both PS, P M Mandanna 10th).