Members of Northern Railway exult after their victory in Ranchi on Monday. (Hardeep Singh)

The Team India trio of Rani Rampal, Ritu Rani and Poonam Rani forged a potent combination at Morabadi’s Astroturf Hockey Stadium to hand Northern Railway a well fought 4-1 win during their All India Railway Women’s Hockey Championship match against South Eastern Railway on Monday.

The clash, which was witnessed by roughly 3,000 spectators, saw as many as 16 of the 18-member squad that had represented India during the Olympic qualifiers, taking to the astroturf on Monday.

While Team India women’s hockey captain and Jharkhand girl Asunta Lakra led the South Eastern team, her national team mate Ramneek Kaur led the charge of the Northern outfit.

Displaying some amazing ball skills, the Northern forwards kept making inroads in their opponents territory right from the word go. The trio, who were fed some delightful passes by midfielder Jasjeet Kaur, kept the pressure up right throughout the match, to force the South Eastern team to go on the defensive.

Rani Rampal opened the account for her team converting a penalty stroke with ease to give her team a 1-0 lead at half-time.

The striker tightened the screws on her opponent in the second half by finding the back of the net again and doubling the score for her team.

The South Eastern team, however, pulled a goal back in the 51st minute thanks to Pushpa Pradhan who converted a penalty stroke.

However, Pradhan, who co-ordinated well with team mate Lakra, failed to penetrate the Northern’s defence, which was up to the mark, after that.

The Northern outfit, on the other hand, went for the kill after conceding a goal and stepped up its game to win two penalty corners. Both the penalties were converted by Poonam Rani to seal the match.