A goal in the dying minutes gave Army XI a place in the final of the 44th Bombay Gold Cup hockey tournament.

A K Mahji scored from an indirect penalty-corner variation to earn the armymen a 2-1 victory over defending champions Western Railway in a semi-final round-robin match in Mumbai on Wednesday.

After a goalless first half, Army XI trailed the Mumbai league champions 0-1, but fought back to restore parity and then clinch the issue at the fag end.

Western Railway took the lead in the 49th minute through an indirect penalty-corner goal by Anand Sondkar.

But the armymen, who took their points' tally to six with their second straight win in the four-team league, equalized through a fine solo effort by S V Sunil with seven minutes left for the hooter.

Then came the match-winner from Mahji, which took Army XI into the April 29 summit clash with another Bangalore outfit, Bharat Petroleum Corporation [Get Quote] (BPCL), who also have six points from two games.

The teams clash on April 28 in a prelude to the final after Thursday's rest day to decide the top finisher in the round-robin while Western take on Namdhari XI, who also lost their first two matches, in their last league engagement.

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