K. Malem was the star of the day for Bishop Cotton Boys School. His brilliant hat-trick ensured that the Cotton’s entered the final with a 3-2 win over Rashtriya Military School in the Rotary G.S. Randhawa Memorial hockey tournament.
In the summit clash, Cotton’s will meet Frank Anthony Public School, who defeated St. Germain High School 4-2.
Cotton’s started off in fine fashion and Malem put them ahead in the 16th minute. The score stood at 1-0 at half-time after both the teams failed to make further inroads.
Twelve minutes into the second-half, the match witnessed a goal rush with four goals being scored in five minutes.
In the 42nd minute, Malem was on target to extend Cotton’s lead. Stung by the second goal, RMS responded in splendid fashion with Rajit Kumar reducing the lead. Even before the RMS lads could complete their celebration, Malem restored the lead in the 46th minute. Taking a leaf out of Cotton’s book, RMS hit back in the very next minute through Sandeep Barik to make in 3-2 but Cotton’s held on to their narrow lead to march into the final.
In the other semis, FAPS had little trouble in getting past St. Germain. Sairam Ramesh opened the scoring in the 10th minute and Nalin Kopikar was quick to double the lead two minutes later. Rahul Thomas sounded the boards in the 26th minute as FAPS went into the break with a 3-0 lead.
Ramesh completed his brace in the 34th minute of the match and just when it looked like a total rout, a desperate St. Germain tried to get back into the game with two strikes through Sumith Kethan (43rd) and Mohammed Anzar (53rd). But FAPS were not to be denied their entry in the final.