Dynamos upset Shers, keep bronze hopes alive

Chandigarh, Feb 28 (UNI) With a hard-fought 3-2 win over title favourites Sher-e-Jallandhar, Chandigarh Dynamos kept themselves in the race for the bronze medal in the Premier Hockey League here.

In cold and windy conditions lats night, both teams played at a slow pace and took time to settle down but the hockey dished out was dull and dreary. Shers, who have already qualified for the best-of-three finals, rested their star players Baljit Dhillon and Baljit Singh Saini. Olympian Gagan Ajit Singh came in only towards the end of the first quarter.

Dynamos drew the first blood in the 17th minute following a long corner. Skipper Rajpal Singh got the ball after a goal-mouth melee and gave a pass to Ravipal Singh near the top of the circle. Despite two defenders all over him, Ravipal managed to find space and scooped into the net past rival custodian Kamaldeep Singh (1-0).

The second quarter was completely bereft of any innovative moves and the huge crowd witnessed mediocre midfield play. However, both the teams picked up speed and started playing attacking and open game in the second half with all the stars in the Shers' team taking the field.

Shers got the equaliser through their third penalty corner in the 40th minute when their Spanish import Santi Freixa did a jig to confuse the defenders with a 360 degree turn, with the ball sticking closely to the stick, and put Gagan in possession. Gagan slammed into the boards to make it 1-1.

However, Dynamos took the lead once again with some pleasing moves upfront where skipper Rajpal Singh and Prabjot Singh combined well. Inderjit Chadha played a crucial role in distributing the passes as playmaker in the attack feeding dangerous ball to his strikers. They earned the fifth of their seven short corners today and Jugraj Singh found the net after Chadha and Irshad Ali did the spade work in the 52 nd minute (2-1).

But the lead was short-lived as Shers struck the equaliser within two minutes when Freixa proved equally good with his drag-flick from Shers' fourth set-piece drill (2-2).

Undaunted by the reverse, Dynamos continued to attack relentlessly and forced two more penalty corners before posting the match winner in the 61 st minute. Jaswinder Singh began a move from the middle and put Chadha in possession. Chadha sent a short pass after entering the circle to Mandeep Singh on the left. With rival custodian Kamaldeep advancing, Mandeep used the back pass to find Prabjot unmarked near the far post. The Dynamos' star just nudged the ball in with an open goal staring at him. (3-2) Inderjit Singh Chadha was declared Lion of the Day.

UNI