Shers beat Steelers by 7-6 in sudden death

Chandigarh, Mar 2 (UNI) Sher-e-Jalandhar beat Orissa Steelers 7-6 in the sudden death tie-breaker in the first of the best-of-three finals in the third edition of the Premier Hockey League at the floodlit Sector 42 Hockey Stadium here tonight.

The regulation period of 70 minutes and 15 minutes of extra time ended in a one-all draw.

In the marathon tie-breaker session 30 penalties were taken and Steelers converted six while Shers five. It was Prabhdeep Singh who clinched the issue in favour of Shers by converting his stroke while Birender Lakra muffed it.

In the normal tie-breaker of 10 penalties, Dilip Tirkey and Prabodh Lakra converted their strokes. For Shers, Gagan Ajit Singh and Tejbir Singh were the goal-getters. In the sudden death tie-breaker, William Xalco (2) and Dilip Tirkey converted their penalties for Orissa Steelers.

Gurwinder Singh, Tejbir Singh and Yudhvir Singh converted their penalties to make it 5-all.

Then Birender Lakra failed to get past Shers goalkeeper Kamaldeep Singh in the one-to-one action from 25-yard spot. Prabhdeep dribbled past Orissa goalkeeper Salman Akbar for Shers' victory.

With this win Shers have gained a 1-0 lead in the finals. In the Chennai and Chandigarh legs, their score stood at 1-1.

Watched by nearly 10,000 spectators, a penalty corner goal by Sunil Ekka in the 63rd minute helped Orissa Steelers play a one-all draw with Sher-e-Jalandhar. The silver and golden extra time failed to resolve the issue. The tie-breaker rule was applied to end the stalemate.

Sher-E-Jalandhar shot into the lead in the 37th minute with Olympian Gagan Ajit Singh scoring of the rebound off Salman Akbar's pads after the Steelers goalkeeper had padded the sizzling shot from captain Kanwalpreet Singh. With seven minutes left from close, Orissa Steelers restored parity when Sunil Ekka converted a penalty corner with an indirect hit. The silver extra time of seven and half minutes also failed to break the deadlock and the match was decided in the sudden death tie-breaker.

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