NDA stamped their dominance from the word go with Dhruvpal scoring a brace, one through a penalty, in the first chukker. The India player was the most powerful striker of the ball, using the mallet to good effect. Cdt Sawant, Lt Col Prashant Thakur and Lt Col JS Shekhawat were immaculate with their passing as they fed Dhruvpal with perfection.
ASC were struggling to come to terms with NDA’s relentless onslaught in the initial stages of the second chukker. Dhruvpal made it 3-0 to add to the hosts’ misery.
Lt Col GS Pandher then reduced the deficit for ASC, firing home after receiving a clean pass from Major Faiz Siddiqui. However, in the third chukker, the Pune-based team dashed all hopes ASC had of coming back with Dhruvpal and Shekhawat scoring to give them a 5-1 lead.
It was all ASC in the fourth and final chukker, though, with Faiz scoring to make it 2-5. Khera then brought the crowd to the edge of their seats with his double strike with a minute to go. With ASC awarded a half goal before the match on account of their lower handicap, it was NDA’s flurry of goals in the first three chukkers that really made the difference in a game that went down to the wire.
Result: NDA: 5 (D Godara 4, Lt Col JS Shekhawat 1) bt ASC: 4 (Lt Col GS Pandher 1, Major Faiz Siddiqui 1, Col NS Khera 2).
