Goals from Arjun Antil and Ajitesh Roy helped Punjab National Bank (PNB) overwhelm Indian Air Force (IAF) 2-0 in their Ozone Group - KSHA National hockey league championship at the KSHA stadium on Sunday.
Arjun struck for PNB in the 12th minute of the match while Ajitesh sounded the board in the 59th minute to seal the victory.
PNB showed more determination in the early stages of the match to put pressure on the IAF defence. The combine of Arjun and Ajitesh created opportunities with their impressive stickwork upfront.
The duo along with Ravinder Twetia troubled IAF custodian Vishnu K with their shots on target in the first 10 minutes.
However, it was Arjun who opened the account for the men from Punjab with his powerful shot from the left off a Hardip pass.
With a 1-0 lead, the Bankmen looked to consolidate, and Twetia along with Ranjit Singh, fed Arjun and Ajitesh on a consistent basis.
Tightening their defence, the Air Force men went on the offensive through their usual suspects Lovepreet Singh and Harwant Singh. Lovepreet had a shot from the right saved by PNB custodian Shamsher Singh in the 31st minute. PNB had the edge with the solitary lead going into half-time.
After the break, IAF channelled their desperation for goal with attractive mid-field play. The forwards, Lovepreet and Harwant, though struggled showing a lack of imagination inside the D and this was their undoing.
PNB’s approach was to finish off the game and Arjun and Ajitesh worked towards that goal. In the 59th minute, the latter delivered the killer punch with a superb shot from the right that went whizzing past IAF custodian Vishnu.
IAF made attempts to restore parity in the last ten minutes but the PNB defence was unbreachable. Harwant missed an easy tap-in off a Varinder Kumar cross in the 68th minute as PNB went home as deserving winners.
Results: PNB: 2 (Arjun Antil 12th, Ajitesh Roy 59th) bt IAF: 0; Army Green: 4 (Leejohn Singh 17th, Arun Kumar 22nd, Jultan Lugan 27th, Binoy Bhengra 53rd) bt BPCL: 0; IOCL: 4 (Deepak Thakur 25th, 33rd, Gurjinder Singh 29th, Vikas Sharma 57th) bt SAI: 1 (Nikin Thimmaiah 34th).