Former champions Indian Railways and IHF Juniors will clash in the final of the�81st�MCC Murugappa hockey tournament.

In the semi-finals on Friday,�Railways put paid to the aspirations of Karnataka, winning 5-2 (half-time�3-1), while IHF got the better of Air India 4-1 via the�tie-breaker after the teams were locked goalless at the end of 70 minutes of full-time and 15 minutes of extra-time.

For IHF, Navpreet Singh, Yogender Gulia, Sandeep Singh and William Xalxo were the scorers while S R Kundu was the lone player to succeed from the 'spot' for the losers.

In the Karnataka-Railways match, Vinod Kumar (10th minute), Chander Pal (17th), Shiva (26th and 49th) and Rajiv Mishra (52nd) scored for Railways, while�Amar Aiyamma (12th) and Cyprian Aind (40th) got Karnataka's goals.

Railways went into attack�mode right from the beginning. Defender Bikramjit Singh's excellent moves to counter Karnataka Len Aiyappa's 'drag flicks' proved�productive.

Aiyappa also was woefully out of colour, failing to convert seven penalty-corners.

Railways maintained an all-out attack through�their forwards Rajiv Mishra, Chander Pal and Shiva, who all�turned in a smart performance.

Chander Pal�initiated most of the moves�and was always in the thick of action as the Railways forwards stormed the�Karnataka citadel.

Karnataka too had their share of exchanges and earned eight penalty-corners against one by the Railways.

After Len Aiyappa sent the ball over from�the first penalty-corner, Railways went into the lead in the 10th minute following a solo effort by Vinod Kumar. Though Karnataka drew�parity two minutes later with Amar Aiyamma cashing in on a rebounder following a penalty-corner, Railways scored twice in succession.

Their second goal was a result of their forwards combining well. After captain and full-back Rama Rao made a goalline save, Chander Pal latched on to the ball and scooped in over the head of Pkoralo.

In the 26th minute,�Aiyappa made things easy for Shiva to bang home from close range. Following a Breznev Singh's powerful shot from the right,�Aiyappa failed to trap the ball properly and Shiva showed opportunism in scoring.

In the second-half, Karnataka played with vigour but could not break the strong Railways defence.

In the match between Air India and IHF, the rivals indulged in defensive tactics and both missed a chance each.