A goal in the dying minutes gave Army XI a place in the final of the 44th Bombay Gold Cup hockey tournament.
A K Mahji scored from an indirect penalty-corner variation to earn the armymen a 2-1 victory over defending champions Western Railway in a semi-final round-robin match in Mumbai on Wednesday.
After a goalless first half, Army XI trailed the Mumbai league champions 0-1, but fought back to restore parity and then clinch the issue at the fag end.
Western Railway took the lead in the 49th minute through an indirect penalty-corner goal by Anand Sondkar.
But the armymen, who took their points' tally to six with their second straight win in the four-team league, equalized through a fine solo effort by S V Sunil with seven minutes left for the hooter.
Then came the match-winner from Mahji, which took Army XI into the April 29 summit clash with another Bangalore outfit, Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), who also have six points from two games.
The teams clash on April 28 in a prelude to the final after Thursday's rest day to decide the top finisher in the round-robin while Western take on Namdhari XI, who also lost their first two matches, in their last league engagement.
