Lions topple Sher-E-Punjab

Shreedutta Chidananda

Karnataka Lions ushered in the Kannada New Year by toppling a hitherto rampant Sher-E- Punjab 2-1 in its World Series Hockey game at the KSHA Stadium, here on Friday. Len Aiyappa struck a brace, taking his tally to nine goals, as the host soared up to fourth in the table with hopes of progress in the tournament now revived.

Like on Wednesday, Lions went hard at the opponent in the opening minutes, and again found early reward. Arjun Halappa earned a penalty corner; Len Aiyappa — now the team’s leading scorer — made no mistake with the drag flick.

Punjab’s response, though, was largely feeble. Prabhjot Singh attempted to manufacture moves of some sort, but was unable to provide any serious penetration. Not that there were lack of opportunities. The visitor had four penalty corners in the first half, but wasted all of them.
Equaliser

Punjab’s increasing confidence duly resulted in a goal after the interval. Harpreet Singh ended his side’s barren tryst with penalty corners, drilling his shot right down the middle. If Lions appeared to have gone to sleep, the equaliser jerked it awake.

Ravipal Singh and Halappa drove the team forward in search of a goal. It took a while arriving, but it eventually did. A penalty corner was awarded against Harpal, his lengthy protestations notwithstanding. The redoubtable Aiyappa fired the ball into the roof of the net to send a boisterous holiday crowd into raptures.

The result: Karnataka Lions 2 (Len Aiyappa 6, 58) bt Sher-E-Punjab 1 (Harpreet Singh 39).