Cornelius, Edward score twice each for Air-India

Cornelius, Edward score twice each for Air-India
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

MUMBAI, JAN 23: It was foregone that star-studded Air-India would beat cellar-side Companeroes. The margin was the only unknown factor. The airmen netted thrice in each half to register their second straight triumph in the Bombay Hockey Association super league at Mahindra Stadium on Sunday.

Companeroes defended right through and the moment they chose to attack, they fell into arrears. Former International John Fernandes and Olympian Marcellus Gomes ploughed lone furrows in attack for them, but came a cropper as they lacked support from other forwards.

Air-India first scored in the 16th minute through Olympian Anil Aldrin. Kishore Kumar made it 2-0 in the 20th. Full-back Cornelius D'Costa struck twice, a field goal in the 34th followed by a powerful penalty-corner coversion early in the second-half.

International Edward Aranha then rounded-off the tally by scoring twice in grand fashion. He netted the fifth by finding the roof following a rebound after Gagan Ajit Singh's try had come off the upright.The sixth was a beauty. He neatly deflected the ball from the top of the circle past goalkeeper Lucio following a stiff forward pass by linkman Harpreet Singh.

Earlier Khar Gymkhana, with several veterans in their ranks, drubbed Catholic Gymkhana 12-4 in a first division clash. N Chandrashekhar scored five goals, including a hat-trick, while Ganesh Pillai (3), Shiv Dutt (2), Azim Siddique and Nasir Khan were the other goal-getters. Patrick Aharal (2), Saby Miranda and Agnelo Picardo accounted for Catholic Gymkhana.

A lone goal by Amit Agarwal turned out to be the match-winner for IIT against Dolours United in the Third Division League.

BoI, OBC in title clash
Goals in the dying moments decided both the semi-finals of the All-India Inter-bank football tournament, conducted by Bank of Baroda, at Cooperage on Sunday evening. Holders Bank of India defeated Union Bank with a 90th minute strike by Chandrakant Poojary with a left-footed volley, after Prakash Mehra had headed down a Satish flag-kick.Oriental Bank of Commerce nosed out Punjab National Bank, Sanjeev Sharma scoring after PNB goalkeeper Deepu Lama failed to fist away a Khairola cross.

Brace by Chiman
United Friends Circle (Sahar) bt Ace XI 2-0 in the Don Bosco Challenge Cup organised by Don Bosco Youth Centre (Kurla) at St Joseph's ITI Ground, Kurla, on Sunday. Apparao Chiman scored both the goals, in the 51st and 54th minutes. Earlier, Our Lady of Egypt B beat IIT, Powai 2-0, Rajesh Kheshwan scoring once in each half.

Fleetfooters make final
Fleetfooters, Borivli, defeated Saki Village Boys 2-0 to enter their fourth consecutive final in the 19th Brother Paulus Memorial football tournament at St Francis D'Assisi, Borivli, on Sunday. The three-time runner-up went into the lead in the 41st minute when Nitin Shetty was fed by Chirag Shaikh just inside the box. Nitin Shetty scored his second off a pass from Douglas D'Sena in the 50th minute.

Mayur Mehta's feat
Mayur Mehta, 16, bettered his own record in theDharamtar return (two-way) swim of 70 kms with a timing of 14:18:40 secs on Sunday. The VG Vaze student had swum the same route on December 12, 1997, in 16:39:01 secs. He is the only swimmer to swim this route three times and created new marks on two occasions.