Bangalore Lions registered their second consecutive victory in the Premier Hockey League on Sunday when they trounced Hyderabad Sultans 3-0.
The Lions forced eight penalty-corners, while the Sultans were not able to earn any.
However, the Lions had to wait till the 49th minute and their seventh penalty-corner to take the lead.
They tried a variation after the first six penalty-corners went waste. Gurpreet Singh took a shot at the goal and Rehan Butt drove the rebound home.
The Lions doubled their lead with a field goal in the 55th minute. A cross from the right flank was well-utilised by the Dutchman Sander Van Der. The powerful drive left goalkeeper Devesh Chanhan flat-footed.
The third goal was a penalty-corner conversion by Len Aiyappa, in the 64th minute. This was his third strike in the tournament.
Hyderabad Sultans had earlier lost their first match to Chennai Veerans.
Orissa Steelers prevail over Chennai Veerans
In another match of the day, Orissa Steelers defeated Chennai Veerans 2-1 to register their second victory in the league.
The crowd was treated to brilliant, dynamic hockey by both teams with end-to-end action, especially in the second half of the match, when Chennai Veerans came back strongly into the contest.
Steelers took an early lead with a sixth minute field goal by Sunil Ekka, who deflected a lovely pass from Prabodh Tirkey. They played at a fast pace to begin with and the local team struggled to cope with the numerous attacking raids.
Steelers doubled the lead with a powerful penalty-corner conversion by Dilip Tirkey in the 25th minute. However, the local team came back strongly in the second half and raided the rival territory time and again, pressurising the Steelers defence.
The Veerans forced three penalty-corners in the second half and, after wasting the first two, converted the third when Raghunath drove the ball powerfully past the goalkeeper.
The last seven minutes were frenetic with Veerans leaving no stone unturned and Steelers defending superbly and counter-attacking whenever possible.
Chennai Veerans had won their first match, beating Hyderabad Sultans 4-1.
Orissa Steelers had also tasted success, beating Chandigarh Dynamos.
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