JOIN USGoals from Nikin Thimmaiah and Sandeep helped Sports Authority of India (SAI) register a come from behind 2-1 win over Punjab National Bank (PNB) in their Ozonegroup-KSHA National Hockey League match at the KSHA stadium on Sunday.
After Damandeep Singh took the lead for PNB in the third minute, Nikin equalised for SAI in the 16th minute and Sandeep struck what was eventually the winning goal in the 49th minute.
PNB were the more proactive team in the initial stages. Damandeep put them ahead when he controlled a pass from Jalwinder Singh before beating SAI custodian Ankith Guliya.
SAI equalised when Nikin sounded the board in the 16th minute with a clean hit.
Both teams tried to break the deadlock but good defending on either side kept the scores level.
SAI looked the more determined outfit in the second half as they ventured into the rival half frequently. Sandeep rose to the occasion when he converted a PC in the 49th minute to make it 2-1 for the Kengeri-based team.
PNB struggled to break through a shaky SAI defence in the last 20 minutes as the latter just about managed to defend their lead.
Results: Army Green: 3 (Jultan Lugun 66th, Romen 67th, Johny Jasrotia 70th) bt Air India: 2 (Devinder Valmiki 4th, Arjun Halappa 32nd); ONGC: 6 (Jayanta KH 8th, Pramod Kumar 9th, Ramandeep Singh 16th, 37th, Aijub Ekka 41st, Lalit Upadhya 54th) bt MEG ‘A’: 2 (AU Kariappa 61st, Siraj 70th); SAI: 2 (Nikin Thimmaiah 16th, Sandeep 49th) bt PNB: 1 (Damandeep Singh 3rd).