Bombay Republicans A offered one more example to that hypothesis at the Bombay Hockey Association's Mahindra Stadium today when they held Central Railway Mumbai Division to a 1-1 draw in the BHA senior division league.

True, CRMD were without forward Aldrin Bird, serving an internal penalty. True, their attack seemed toothless and unimaginative in the absence of Bird and Yogesh Muthiah, who, along with Edwin Moti, had raised CRMD to title contenders last season.

But Bombay Republicans had their fair share of absentees. Vijay Alphonso and Junaid Jada are doing duty for the Bombay juniors side in Bangalore.

In the event, Bombay Republicans performed commendably. If Satish Yadav had converted their second penalty stroke, they could have even upset the Railways seniors.

CRMD went into the lead in the seventh minute whendefender Ravi Passi struck from a penalty corner drill. Republicans restored parity in the 23rd, when Satish Yadav pushed in the penalty stroke after a stick check.

Republicans kept raiding the CRMD citadel well into the second half, with India probable Suresh Pereira leading the forays. One such move yielded a penalty corner, and Suresh's indirect hit the left pole. A stick check during the rebound provided Republicans their second stroke, which they muffed.

The last few minutes saw CRMD mounting an aggressive combing operation in search of the winner. Republicans erred in falling back in clusters, bringing undue pressure on goalkeeper Shailesh Negi, who made two brilliant saves to fetch Republicans one point.

This was CRMD's concluding league match, and they have 10 points from six outings. SAI and MPT have six points each from two matches, while Union Bank have six from three.