Local favourites Chandigarh Dynamos scraped past Maratha Warriors 1-0 to book their berth in the semi-finals of the Premier Hockey League at the Sector 42 Hockey Stadium in Chandigarh on Sunday.
Dynamos, with a match in hand against Chennai Veerans, have 12 points from five matches while Maratha Warriors remain on seven. They have to beat Hyderabad Sultans in their last match to make the last four.
Sher Singh scored the only goal of the game in the 26th minute.
The Dynamos played a fast and attacking game and their Pakistani star Ghazanfar Ali was once again the fulcrum of the team controlling the pace of game from the midfield.
Rajpal Singh, Ravipal, Deepak and Prabhjot combined well in the frontline and made many raids but could score just once.
Maratha Warriors had more possession and better share of the exchanges in the second and third quarters but their forwards could not support each other in the rival defence.
Zeeshan Ashraf did a commendable job in defence for Dynamos.
Dynamos scored when Rajpal Singh found Ravipal Singh just outside the circle on the goal line.
Ravipal sent a cross into the goalmouth where Sher Singh connected with his stick close to the goalkeeper to put Dynamos ahead. Maratha Warriors had better share of the subsequent exchanges but failed to convert any of the three short corners they earned.
In the 56th minute, they had a golden chance to strike the equaliser but a superb goal line save by Ravipal saved Dynamos.
Gurbaj Singh and Rehan Butt combined well on the left flank and latter darted into the circle before sending a pass to Dhananjay Mahadik in the middle.
He took a crack at the goal and beat goalkeeper Baljit Singh but Ravipal cleared it to safety.
Towards the end, Warriors made desperate efforts to get the equaliser but failed find the touch in circle to beat the rival defence.
Dynamos skipper Rajpal Singh was declared Man of the Match.
