By IANS
Chandigarh : Former champions Bangalore Hi-Fliers kept themselves in the race for a semi-final berth with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Hyderabad Sultans in the fourth Premier Hockey League (PHL) here Thursday.
After four matches each, Bangalore Hi-Fliers now head the table with eight points while Hyderabad Sultans have five.
Hi-Fliers’ Tushar Khandekar was declared man of the match.
The Bangalore team took time to settle down, but soon took control of the midfield where Bimal Lakra stood out. They did well to keep at bay the forays of Hyderabad forwards Didar Singh and Sardara Singh.
Bangalore shot ahead in the 23rd minute. A raid from the middle saw Cheyanna send in a short cross from the top of the ‘circle’ to Arjun Halappa on the left.
Halappa took a fierce shot at the goal. And right in front of the rival goalkeeper, Bangalore’s South Korean import You Hyo-sik deflected the ball into the goal.
Bangalore continued to exert pressure in the third quarter but Hyderabad slotted the equaliser in the 46th minute.
A long chopped ball from Jasbir Singh in the midfield entered the striking circle where Vinay tried to stop it. But the ball rose and Didar Singh sneaked in and scored from handshaking distance.
Bangalore still kept up the tempo and found the match-winner in the 60th minute through a brilliant field goal.
Following a raid from the right flank, Vinay sent a defence-splitting cross from the right corner of the field to find an unmarked Khandekar in the ‘circle’.
From the edge of the circle, Khandekar stopped the ball and sent a stinging shot that went into the goal like a bullet.
Thereafter, Bangalore defended stubbornly to foil the Hyderabad team’s forays and hung on to the narrow lead to earn three points and keep themselves in the race for the semi-finals.