League debutants Fortis found a quick equaliser at the end to clinch a thrilling 2-2 draw against Karnataka State Police (KSP) in the opening encounter of the tier I Super Division hockey league at the KSHA Stadium here on Friday.
Laxman Rao scored a brace to put policemen ahead while midfielder Chengappa K M restored parity at first for Fortis with a penalty corner in the 39th minute before Virendra Lakra netted the all-important goal four minutes from the hooter to share the honours.
KSP dominated the proceedings early on and continued to hold control over the match in the first session. But, Fortis returned the favour after the break and even could have won the match but for Sandip Michael missing a sitter midway through the second-half.
Replacement
Fortis were forced to replace injured Sanawar Ali (ankle) and Davinder Singh (hamstring), who were in action in the tier II proceedings till Thursday, and I S Negi took one of the slots.
KSP went up in the eighth minute when Rao trapped a Chetan Kumar through pass from centre-line and fired one in near the stroke point. KSP went into the break with the 1-0 lead.
Four minutes into the second-half, Fortis pulled one back through a penalty corner. Sandeep Michael’s push was not accurate but Chengappa managed to collect it and sounded the board with a fierce hit to the right corner.
The next goal came only in the 65th minute when Rao dribbled past a few players on the right flank and slammed one in from the top of the striking circle to put KSP in lead.
With just five minutes from the hooter, it seemed that Rao has bagged the decider for his team, but their joy was shortlived.
In the very next minute, Bharath served Lakra with a good pass from the left and the Indian Airlines player scored from just inside the shooting circle.
The second match slated for the day between Canara Bank and Army Service Corps was postponed due to bad weather conditions.