BANGALORE, May 29: Dark horses, Indian Railways, put paid to the aspirations of debutants Air-India, defeating them 3-0 in the semi-finals of the Punjab and Sind Bank 58th Senior National Hockey Championship at the Karnataka State Hockey Association Stadium here on Thursday.

In the title clash on Friday, they will face South Zone champions, Tamil Nadu, who sent fancied Bombay packing 2-1.

Nineteen-time winners, Railways, began on a confident note and attacked from the word go, forcing two penalty corners in the first ten minutes. They unsettled Air-India with their swift moves and shot ahead in the 5th minute by capitalising on a defensive lapse by international Anil Aldrin in the defence. Put into possession by Hasrat Qureshi, Rajiv Mishra made no mistake slotting home the first goal.

Railways, coached by Vasudevan Bhaskaran, consisting mostly of young players below 21 years, improved with every match. Their sterling display on Thursday was a tribute to teamwork, where Marianos Ekka, Ajinderpal Singh and Hasrat Qureshi excelled in the front. Veteran Ashok Kumar, the only senior in the team, was ably supported by Lazarus Barla and Jagmohan Singh in the defence.

``In the team meeting this morning Balwinder (assistant coach) and I told the boys to go for a goal in the first ten minutes. They stuck to the plan and were able to achieve the breakthrough and never looked back,'' coach Bhaskaran said. He also said the team was asked to concentrate more in denying penalty corners to their rivals, as Air-India's conversion percentage was high.

However, after taking the lead, Railways defence looked vulnerable as Air-India, stung by the reverse, unleashed quite a few raids but they failed to find the elusive equaliser.

Edgar Mascarenhas and Kishore Kumar fumbled on entering the striking circle and a Surinder Singh scoop, off Air-India's second penalty corner was palmed out by Railway custodian Ambuj Srivastav.

Railways hung on to the narrow lead till the break and after changeover made dangerous forays into the rival 25-yard, where M Ekka and Ajinderpal Singh looked menacing. In the 45th minute, Rajiv Mishra dodged a couple of defenders and passed to Subal Barla after entering the circle. But his feeble push was cleared by Aldrin.

For Railways, Anmol Aind too, gave a good display intercepting the rival forwards' pass time and again. They kept possession of the ball for longer periods and thwarted the break-away moves of Air-India. Their efforts in furthering the lead bore fruit in the 58th minute when Marianos Ekkas scored a field goal.

Barla intercepted a ball in their own 25-yard area, sprinted down the right flank and sent a long diagonal to Rajiv Mishra, who directed it to Mukhtiar Singh on the left flank. Mukhtiar, in a swift change of flanks, sent a well-timed minus cross to Ekka. The latter received the ball just outside the striking circle, stepped in and sent a zooming shot which brooked no reply from a stunned goalkeeper.

Two minutes later, Hasrat Qureshi put the issue beyond doubt with another field goal as he slammed home an Ekka pass to make it 3-0 and Railways held on confidently till the end.

Earlier, Bombay despite having seven internationals in their lineup, failed to live up to expectations. They lacked cohesion in the frontline and their midfield too failed to deliver the goods. Their defence manned by Callistus D'Souza, Saurab Bishnoi and Enrico Fernandes, however, performed well snubbing many a rival attack.

Bombay, drew first blood in the 19th minute, scoring through a hard-working Sabu Varkey field goal and went into the break with a 1-0 lead. But they failed to go further, as Tamil Nadu equalised six minutes after resumption when an alert Thirumalvalavan scored off a pass from Kevin.

TN forwards Kirubakaran and Prabhakaran combined well and with Kevin providing good support from the right flank managed to pressurise the Bombay defence but flopped in their attempts to score.

Bombay, too, had some close shots and only Varkey and Ravi Nayakar moved with cohesion as the rest of the team appeared jaded. Indian star, Dhanraj Pillay, who usually thrills the crowd with his solo runs, was off colour on the day.

With regulation time providing no result, the teams went into extra time. Forty seconds to the hooter saw Dinesh Naik slot home the golden goal for Tamil Nadu with a direct penalty corner conversion. It was Tamil Nadu's fifth entry into the national championship.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.