Maratha Warriors pipped Hyderabad Sultans 4-1 via the tie-breaker to snatch two points from their Premier Hockey League match in Chandigarh on Sunday night.
With both teams scoring a goal each in regulation time, the match was pushed into extra-time, which also failed to yield a result, forcing the shoot-out.
Vikram Pillay, Jorge Lombi and Johnson Ekka failed to score for the Sultans, while Gurusevak Singh, Shivender Singh and Dhanajay Mahadik converted their 'strokes' for the Warriors.
Earlier, in regulation time, Warriors employed tight man-to-man marking, denying space to rival midfielders Sardar Singh and Vikram Pillay. They also cut off the passes to Sultans' forwards Lombi and Shakeel Abbasi and waited for their turnovers to attack from the middle.
After a goalless first-half, where Sultans failed to convert four penalty-corners, Warriors took the lead in the 38th minute through their first penalty-corner, Imran Warsi sending a fierce drag-flick into the net that beat rival custodian Salman Akbar.
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Sardar relayed a square pass to Devinderpal Singh, who shot into the circle, where a diving Nitin Kumar slapped the ball into the goal only for William Xalco to bring off a goaline save.
But Xalco's clearance travelled to an unmarked Didar Singh at the top of the circle. He undercut the ball into the net, leaving Warriors' custodian Adrian D'Souza helpless.
Thereafter both teams tried hard for the match-winner but without success.
