A brace by Hari Parsad helped Bangalore Lions to notch up a convincing 2-1 victory over local favourites Chandigarh Dynamos to win the second edition of the Premier Hockey League in Chandigarh on Wednesday night.
An in-form Hari Parsad put the Lions in lead in the second quarter of the match when captain Arjun Halappa's powerful drag-flick rebounded from the pad of Dynamos goalkeeper Baljeet Singh and ball went to Len Aiyappa who passed it to Parsad.
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The first quarter was evenly balanced with both the teams making a number of forays into the citadel of each other. But the tempo of the game was raised in the second quarter by both teams.
Tejbir Singh of Dynamos and Ajay Saroha of Lions were shown yellow card after a heated argument took place between the two players.
Earlier, Dynamos also missed two successive penalty corners as Lions goalkeeper Bharat Kumar Chhetri did a commendable job to block the hit of drag-flicker Sandeep Singh. At the breather, Lions led by a solitary goal.
After the halftime, the Lions citadel remained under continuous threat as Dynamos Tejbir Singh, Inderjit Singh Chadha, captain Rajpal Singh and Balder Bomans made several valiant attempts to give their team the equaliser.
Lions Tushar Khandekar had a good opportunity to put his team further ahead in the third quarter when he made a solo attempt and took the ball inside the circle.
However, his dash at the goal was well blocked by Dynamos goalkeeper Baljeet Singh.
The last quarter of the high-pitched game, which saw raising passions among players, turned out to be a do or die battle for both the teams. Dynamos earned their fifth penalty corner when Inderjit Singh Chadha was wrongly obstructed by Prabodh Tirkey.
The hero of yesterday's match, Sandeep Singh, made no mistake by converting the penalty corner to give his team the equaliser.
After the equaliser, Dynamos mounted pressure on the Lions and earned their sixth and the last penalty corner. Sandeep Singh's powerful drag flick was well stopped by Chetri under the bar and denied the Dynamos to earn a lead.
Towards the dying minutes of the match, Lions' Rehan Butt got an excellent opportunity in front of the goal mouth but umpire Bhupinder Singh ruled foul.
Following this, the entire Bangalore players protested the umpire's decision. Unhappy over the ruling by the umpire Butt threw his stick out of the ground for which he was shown yellow card.
Unmoved by the events on the ground, Lions made a last attempt towards the dying minutes of the game when Sabu Varkey gave a good ball to Tushar Khandekar who passed it to Hari Parsad and the hero of the day did no mistake in sealing the fate of the Dynamos.
Of the best of three finals, Lions won the first 4-2. Dynamos draw parity by winning the next 3-2.
