Dhaka get first win of HCT

Walton Dhaka showed their prowess in converting penalty corners as they notched up a fighting 4-3 win over Rupayan City Cumilla in a Hockey Champions Trophy encounter at the Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium.

Smarting from a 1-2 defeat to Metro Express Barishal, Dhaka got off to a scintillating start and took a 2-0 lead in the first quarter, with penalty-corner specialist Ashraful Islam finding the back of the net on both occasions following penalty corners in the seventh and 15th minutes.

Dhaka then made it 3-0 in the 20th minute when Afandy Asly Surya of Indonesia scored a nice field goal after availing a square pass from Rokibul Hasan Rocky.

Cumilla, who beat Monarch Padma 3-2 in their first match, pulled one goal back in the 23rd minute as captain Sohanur Rahman Sabuj converted a penalty, but Walton again widened the margin as Surya got a slight touch on a fierce Ashraful Islam hit in the 25th minute.

Although Cumilla won penalty corners one after another, they failed to capitalise before Korean forward Kim Sung Yeob struck two successive goals. The first came from a penalty stroke in the 32nd minute and the second from a penalty corner in the 39th minute.

Both teams fought neck-to-neck in the fourth and final quarter, although Cumilla got more penalty corners. But they could convert in the face of a bold performance from goalkeeper Abu Sayeed Nippon

Dhaka captain Ashraful Islam also found the going tough, coming up empty from three penalties in the fourth quarter, but his side left the field with their heads high and with the first win in Bangladesh's inaugural franchise hockey league.