New Delhi: Punjab National Bank started their 48th Senior Nehru Hockey Tournament in style as they thrashed South Central Railways(SCR) 2-1 in a league stage match up of played here at the Major Dhyanchand Stadium on Tuesday.

PNB started on a dominating note and got their first goal through Bruno H. Logun in the 12th minute. After drawing the first blood, PNB looked even more vicious and kept on pushing the opposition's defence line. Their dominance soon paid off when Arjun Antil scored a spectacular goal in the 27th minute to put them forward in the match.

Not much happened after the second goal, and the first half ended with Punjab leading by two goals. After the change of ends, Punjab started the game from where they left, but lack of good finishing prevented them from inflicting any more blows on SCR. Even though Arjun Antil kept the opposition’s defence line under constant pressure, but lack of competency from the other players hit them very hard as they missed out three penalty corners.

As the match entered the last 20 minutes and anticipated 2-0 finish was on the cards, SCR pulled one back in the 51st minute through Gurbhej Singh off a penalty corner. SCR looked rejuvenated after scoring the first goal and pushed hard for the equalizer but failed to do so as Punjab eventually walked off with a deserved win.

Other Results:NamdhaXI bt RCF, Kapurthala(4-) via tie-breaker

Central Railway bt PSEB 2-1