Obaidullah Khan Heritage Cup: Army XI Win Thriller with Two Late Goals, Railways Win in Goal-Feast

A come-from-behind victory gives an extra dose of satisfaction to any team, and Army XI must have been pleased as punch with the manner in which they rallied from being 1-2 down with five minutes remaining for the final hooter, to score twice in the final four minutes to nail a stellar 3-2 win over Central Secretariat in a Pool B tie at the Obaidullah Khan Heritage Cup being played at the Major Dhyan Chand Hockey Stadium in Bhopal. The defeat ended the campaign of Central Secretariat, who had earlier lost to Indian Navy 1-2.

Read Obaidullah Khan Heritage Cup: Formidable Indian Oil Sweat, Punjab Police in Cruise Mode

It was the Armymen, who shot into the lead via Harman Singh as early as sixth minute of the match. Hardly had the Army lads broke into goal-scoring celebrations, Central Secretariat evened things up through Aniket Gaurav. Central Secretariat skipper PA Machaiah showed the best possible example of leading from the front, firing home a short corner to put his team in the box seat. Just when it appeared that Central Secretariat only needed to run down the clock, Army XI struck telling blows through Sanjay Toppo and Jobanpreet Singh to script a fabulous win.

Read Prestigious Obaidullah Khan Heritage Cup Gets Underway in Bhopal

Hosts Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy are perched on top of Pool C after they played out 1-1 draw against Army Green – one of the two teams from Army taking part in the tournament. Meanwhile, former international Yuvraj Walmiki and drag-flicker Parampreet Singh slammed rollicking hat-tricks to power Indian Railways to a massive 14-0 win over hapless Madhya Pradesh Hockey team. Arjun Sharma, Mohit and Gopi Kumar Sonkar scored a brace each. Skipper Sayyad Niyaz Rahim and Rimanshu score the other goals.