Times of India: UP Wizards beat Delhi Waveriders 6-4 in a thrilling HIL encounter

By Mukesh Thapliyal

NEW DELHI: Uttar Pradesh Wizards – bounced back from their crushing 2-10 home loss to Kalinga Lancers – registered a convincing 6-4 victory over home team Delhi Waveriders to record their second victory in the league stage of the Hockey India League (HIL) played at the Shivaji Stadium on Monday.

The Delhi crowd witnessed some finest of hockey skills during the fourth and final quarter of the game as four field goals and a lone penalty corner conversion out of the total six took place in the last five minutes of the match.
Waveriders and Wizards remained static at third and fifth places in the points table with 17 and 12 points respectively. For the triumphant Wizards team VR Raghunath (19′ PC), Chinglensana Singh (54′ FG), Jamie Dwyer (55′ FG) and Gonzalo Peillat (58′ PC) were the goal scorers while Justin Reid-Ross (55′ FG) and Talwinder Singh (58′ FG) slotted in for the losing Waveriders side.

The match got off to a thunderous start as Wizards’ Ramandeep Singh got a good long pass from Vikas Pillay as early as in the third minute of the game but he was well tackled by the defender. Waveriders got the first penalty corner in the fifth minute but Rupinder’s grounded drag-flick was finely saved by India’s top-most goalkeeper PR Sreejesh who stretched his legs wide on his left to make the first quarter a goalless affair.

The second quarter saw some great action straightaway as Ramandeep once again received a fine long pass on the left flank as he dodged past two defenders to enter the striking circle and unleash a strong hit but to his dismay it was thwarted by Wizards custodian Sreejesh with his pads.

Wizards earned their first penalty corner of the game in the fourth minute of second quarter. Ramandeep took the push and drag-flick specialist VR Raghunath made no mistake as he sounded the board with a lowly goal piercing shot which foxed everyone from defence to goalkeeper, giving the Uttar Pradesh Wizards a crucial 1-0 lead.

Soon, Waveriders skipper Simon Child got one chance but his strong reverse hit from the zero degree angle went directly to Wizards’ goalkeeper Devon Manchester’s pads. Wizards got the best opportunity of the day to double their lead 2-0 when Kenneth Bain got an aerial ball and he was just one-on-one with onrushing Delhi team goalkeeper but instead of dodging the ‘keeper he tried for the lob which went over the post.

The Delhi crowd witnessed some thrilling action between India’s top-most drag-flicker Rupinder Pal Singh and goalkeeper Sreejesh in the last three minutes of the second quarter. Waveriders wasted five back-to-back penalty corners after Srjeesh blocked first four short corners taken by Rupinder, who tried different styles of drag-flick shots from grounded to aerial. Under-pressure Rupinder missed the fifth one as Wizards maintained their 1-0 lead against Waveriders at half-time.

Wizards get two successive penalty corners in third quarter but got saved by Delhi ‘keeper Manchester. Delhi got another penalty corner, their first in the third quarter, but Wizards goalkeeper Sreejesh again came to the fore to deny the home team any chance of restoring parity in the penultimate quarter.

The action-packed fourth quarter started in a great fashion as Waveriders got the first but Rupinder’s strike was well tackled by on-rushing Wizards defender Raghunath. Wizards’ rising India star Chinglensana Singh and Aussie legend Jamie Dwyer scored stunning back-to-back field goals in the 54th and 55th minute to give their team crucial 5-0 lead.

Waveriders fought back in the next minute as Justin Reid-Ross scored a top-class field goal to make it 2-5 against UP Wizards. Wizards’ Gonzalo Peillat converted a fine short corner to make it 6-2. Delhi got another penalty corner in the very next move and they smartly converted a short corner into a classic field goal to read the scoreline 4-6.
Delhi Waveriders will now play with Jaypee Punjab Warriors tomorrow at the same venue.