Tamil Nadu paid the price for wasting several chances and went down to Mumbai Port Trust 1-2 in a first round match in the Bombay Gold Cup hockey tournament, jointly sponsored by Union Bank, Punjab National Bank and State Bank, at the BHA-Mahindra stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday.
The Mumbai side rallied splendidly after being denied an early goal by umpire Ranjit Dalvi and conceding a goal to emerge worthy winners.
After missing a number of opportunities, Tamil Nadu opened the scoring in the 25th minute from their second penalty-corner, when G Gopinath found the mark from an indirect variation.
MPT came back strongly after the lemon break and rocked the Tamil Nadu citadel. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts, Simon Pascal drew parity for them with a great diving effort, deflecting home Leonard Pereira's measured centre from the right in the 58th minute.
Pereira ensured victory for his team when he fired in an angular shot past goalkeeper Shanmugam Sundharam in the 65th minute.
Earlier, Sikh Regiment Centre (SRC), Ramgarh, came good in the second half to beat Maharashtra XI 3-0 in another first round encounter.
After a goalless first half, SRC opened the scoring in the 53rd minute when Satnam Singh Singh (Sr) beat Maharashtra goalkeeper Mrunal Pawar with a firm drag-flick from their sixth penalty-corner.
Five minutes later, M Tirkey guided home Vijay Kumar's diagonal pass following an indirect penalty-corner drill before Mangra Minz gave the finishing touch to a measured pass from Tirkey in the 64th minute to complete the rout.
