Nellamakkada, Macchamada teams enter finals

Mandepanda Cup hockey final tournament at Ammathi on Friday

In the first semi-final match held at the Ammathi High School grounds on Wednesday, Macchamada team beat Cheppudira team by 2-1 goals, while Nellamakkada team defeated Kaliyanda team by 4-1 goals.

In the first semi-final commenced at 11 am, Devaiah of Macchamada team got an edge for the team by scoring a goal with the penalty corner he got at the 27th minute. Both the teams maintained equal points when C S Poonacha of Chepudira team secured a momentous goal by using the penalty corner he got at the 40th minute.

Both the teams struggled their level best in the second half too but Macchamada team won the match with Shyam Kariappa scoring a goal at the penalty stroke at the 72nd minute.

Thus, Cheppudira team had to leave the fray.

In the second semi-final commenced at 2.30 pm, Nellamakkada team beat Kaliyanda team by 4-1 goals.

Each moment of the match had curious turns that kept the spectators on their toes. Nellamakkada team got an edge of Kaliyanda team when Sachin Bopanna scored a goal at the 22nd minute of the first half.

It was Manju Muttappa who got another shock to the Kaliyanda team by securing one more goal within the next two minutes. Though the Kaliyanda team got five penalty corner opportunities, none of them were encashed.

Even in the second half of the match, the Kaliyanda team wasted three penalty corners. However, Bharath of the team secured a goal at the 44th minute.

But Sachin Bopanna who had scored the first goal for Nellamakkada team gave an excellent performance to score one more goal at the 65th minute. Manju Muttappa strengthened the account by scoring another goal at the 68th minute.

Despite getting a total of 17 penalty corner opportunities, the Kaliyanda team could not win as it could not convert them into goals. It easily embraced its defeat.

Nellamakkada team won the cup in 2003 and 2005. Macchamada team is entering the final for the second time.

 In 2006, it had entered the finals for the first time during the Kallichanda Cup hockey tourney held at Ponnampet.