Delhi invincible, dream final with Rhinos tomorrow

Delhi Waveriders dished out a stellar performance to set aside Punjab Warriors’s challenge, beating them 3-1 in the second semi-finals of Hero Hockey India League. They will now meet the winner of other semi-finals, Ranchi Rhinos, tomorrow at 2000 hrs at Ranchi.

Andres Mir Bel (15th minute), Rupinderpal (33rd) and Llyod Norris Jones (68th) struck for Delhi, whereas Jamie Dwyer (34th min) scored the lone goal for the Punjab Warriors.

The Waveriders made their intentions clear right from the word go. In the 3rd minute, Delhi came close to going up as Chandi gave a close range pass to Akashdeep who failed to take a swing of the stick. This followed a miss by Chandi when his attempted was thwarted by Punjab Warriors goalkeeper Jaap Stockmann, and Llyod Norris Jones who missed deflecting an accurate cross from Yuvraj Walmiki.

Delhi Waveriders got their first penalty corner in the 14th min when Ignace Tirkey, while stopping an incoming hit, fouled by taking the ball on his body. A U-turn dummy was executed by Rupinderpal passing the ball to Andres Mir Bel. He struck and this deceptive move took Delhi up by 1-0.

Punjab Warriors missed their chances in the first half. In the 10th minute, they were in a good position to score but erred by taking a free hit within five meters of the circle. Delhi contested this action and foiled the attack by their smart observation. Similarly, in the 16th min, Malak Singh, in the right flank, got a precise accurate pass from the left flank. His position was perfect to create an penalty corner opportunity for the Warriors but he back-passed the ball towards the top of the circle instead; there he found only Delhi defenders.

The Warriors woes continued as in the 29th minute Orchard came close to scoring from close range; he reverse flicked but his hit flew high above the goal post.

In the 32nd min, Yuvraj took a reverse flick from the left, the ball was blocked but it rose and so did umpire Javed Sheikh’s hands awarding a penalty corner to Delhi Waveriders. Rupinderpal’s flick was deflected by the charger Gurmail’s stick and the score line took Delhi 2-0, in the 33rd minute.

Punjab showed some promise when immediately after, Jamie Dwyer stuck a field goal in 34th minute. Picking a rebound from the cross bars of the goalpost, the Australian beat Rupinderpal to strike the net from an acute angle on the right.

Apart from this lone, stunner goal, Delhi Waveriders stamped their authority throughout the first half. They had 12 circle penetrations compared to a petty 2 of Punjab. They remained aggressive in their shots at the goal also with 9 shots against a minuscule 3 by the Warriors and dominated by the ball possession as well. As the half-time hooter blew, the score read 2-1 in favor of Delhi Waveriders.

The game in the later two quarters was a contest of penalty corners. Delhi failed to convert theirs and Punjab bettered them on this front.

Delhi got a penalty corner in 46th minute and Rupinderpal took a dummy but the same drill that earned them their first goal didn’t work for them this time around.

The Warriors got 7 penalty corner opportunities in the last 18 minutes of the game. However, the Warriors’ search for the crucial equalizer remained futile.

To seal the fate of Punjab, in the 68th minute, Lloyd Norris Jones picked up a counter and in a solo run down the center flank had only the Punjab’s goalie to beat. He didn’t do any mistake and slotted the ball home with his reverse flick from close range making it 3-1 as the Delhi benches rejoiced.