The match began with MLI looking to take control with their offensive tactics. Krishna Patil was the chief conductor of their moves, creating all sorts of problems for COE with his superb runs on the right flank and building opportunities for his team.
MLI converted their fourth penalty corner in the 26th minute. Praful Kirketta slammed home the ball on the rebound after a pass from Krishna Patil. Thereafter, COE tried to level the scores with a few counter-attacks by Stalin and Nithin Thimmaiah but to no avail. In the 29th minute, Irfan S converted MLI’s another penalty-corner with a well-directed drag-flick to make it 2-0.
The second-half saw a pumped up COE looking to bounce back. Shankar Patil led from the front and struck a goal in the 46th minute after a nicely placed pass from Stalin to make it 2-1. Spurred on after pulling one back, COE launched a series of attacks in search of an equaliser under Nithin and Stalin but goal eluded them.
That was probably the only time in the match when the teams looked even. From then on MLI were relentless as they gave an indication what was about to unfold. Krishna Patil and Praful Kirketta’s one-twos deep inside the COE half was menacing.
Krishna Patil came quite close to scoring on a few occasions but was denied by a tight defence and an alert Shan of COE. But, it was just a matter of time before MLI struck a goal.
In the 51st minute, Roshan Bhengra converted a penalty-corner with a clean hit to establish a 3-1 lead for Maratha Light Infantry.
Five minutes later, Vijay Pandagle netted the fourth goal from a Ganesh Patil pass. MLI’s Sravan, feeded by Krishna Patil, joined the party with a 65th minute goal and they wrapped up the match with a 69th minute goal through Sravan.
COE will look to recover from the pounding when they take on Canara Bank on Sunday. Canara Bank drew their first match against PCTC and would be looking to get back to winning ways when they play their next match.