Al Nasr top Group 2, Ahli Sidab continue goal spree in HM Cup
MUSCAT, FEB 2
Sohar posted a thrilling 3-2 win against Majees in their first match of the His Majesty’s Cup hockey championship preliminary round at the Sohar Sports Complex on Tuesday.
It was Mohammed Adil who struck the first goal of the match for Majees inside the first 10 minutes through a penalty corner. Majees were ahead in the quarter by 1-0.
Sohar came back with a stunning field goal by Samir Hulais in the 22nd minute and the score remained 1-1 at the half-time break.
Sohar continued the good work and Omar Mubarak’s good strike put them ahead for the first time in the match in the 35th minute.
Four minutes later, Majees pulled level by successfully converting a penalty corner to make it 2-2.
The score remained the same until the last three minutes of the match and Muhannad Darwish broke the Majees hearts in the 57th minute.
Darwish was clinical in his shot to slot home from a penalty corner.
The win gave Sohar crucial three points in the group while Majees have three points after they won against Salam 4-3 in their first match of Group 1.
Fifteen teams are taking part in the 50th edition of the showpiece hockey championship. All the teams were distributed to four groups according to the geographic location. Group 1 clubbed Batinah teams including Majees, Al Salam, Sohar and Al Suwaiq.
Title holders Al Nasr are in Group 2 specified for Dhofar Governorate teams. Other teams in the group include Al Ittihad, Dhofar and Salalah.
The runners-up of the last edition, Ahli Sidab, lead the Group 3 which also features Al Bashayer, Nizwa and Muscat.
The third and fourth groups are mixture of clubs based in Muscat and Al Dakhiliyah. The Group 4 comprises Seeb, Bausher and Qurayat clubs.
HOLDERS Al NASR IN FRONT
In Group 2, Dhofar were awarded 2-0 win over Al Ittihad who had failed to turn up for the match.
Holders Al Nasr began their campaign with an impressive 4-0 win over Salalah and in the second round thumped Al Ittihad 5-0 to become the first team to register two straight wins.
In Group 3, Ahli Sidab pummelled Nizwa 8-0, while Muscat and Al Bashayer were locked 1-1.
Ahli Sidab returned in the second round to register to another huge-margin victory after sinking Bashayer 13-0.
In Group 4, Seeb started with a 4-0 thrashing of Qurayat to pocket their winning points.
The group matches will be played in two stages — home and away. The top teams in the group will move to the finals that will take place at Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Bausher. The finals round will start on February 18 until March first week. The exact date of the final will be announced later.
Anuroop Athiparambath
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