Match No. 39
Day 20: Wednesday 21.3.2012
Fourth-quarter jinx strike Marines again
Though Sher-E-Punjab continue to maintain their winning rythm in the inaugural Bridgestone World Series Hockey, Mumbai Marines impressed here today, to expose the chinks in the armour of the table leaders. The Shers won a tight contest against the Marines 2-1, but struggled to get the breakthroughs that they have come to be known for in this tournament.
New hero in their ranks, Bikramjeet Singh struck the first goal and then the invincible Deepak Thakur punched the winner while Hari Prasad posted in between to make a match of it. With 22 points with seven wins and a draw, Shers reaffirmed their top position once again.
Mumbai Marines, in desperate need to improve its sagging fortunes, created vital opportunities early in the play to go up, but lack of precision in the penalty corner drills did not match that urgency. Marines earned two penalty corners within the first five minutes. Devinder Walmiki took the first but Mathew Hotchiks blocked it in the nick of time, while a bad stop messed up the other. Harpal Singh charged out even as Walmiki was bent on rectifying the stopper’s lapse. Walmiki was again the culprit when he failed with another two in the fag end of the match.
On the other hand, Shers found a new hero in Bikramjit Singh, who struck off the first penalty corner at the closing minutes of first quarter. He, though, did not show the same venom in his next three attempts he got before half time.
The unstoppable pair of Prabhjot Singh and Deepak Thakur tore and traversed the Marines shores often, and came close to punch on a couple of occasions, but Adrian was simply in his elements. The Mumbai skipper summoned all his years of expertise when dire need arose again. Thakur fetched a penalty corner after Harpal tripped him on the top of the D. Junior India skipper Harpreet Singh took the shot, which hit Walmiki on the left cage, leading to a stroke award which survived a referral. Adrian dived to his left, taking the stroke on his waist, to give Marines a new lease of life. The emboldened Marines went into top gear, and then on the Shers had to concede supremacy to them.
Hurricane Hari Prasad surged into the circle, took a thundering reverse shot that despite hitting goalie Sukhjeet Singh, took couple of small bounces and found home. This 40th minute equalizer lasted only this third quarter as the Marines conceded the crucial lead in the final session. The Marines lost their first leg tie to Shers in similar fashion in the fourth quarter.
A lapse on the part of Ajmir Singh facilitated Prabhjot Singh’s entry into the circle, but Clyde Abraham failed to intercept Prabhot’s feed on its trajectory. Thakur, lurking in the circle, sensed his chance and in his characteristic sprint and style, pushed the ball with his left hand in to the cage. Marines may have lost all three points at stake match but they certainly take back some pride from this match.
Match No. 40
Day 20: Wednesday 21.3.2012
Lions get into the winning stride at last!
Almost every match in the Bridgestone WSH has been unpredictable and rocked the table hierarchies. Though, both Karnataka Lions and Pune Strykers were caught up in a must-win situation in this match to avoid holding the wooden spoon, it was the hosts who pulled up a magical performance to beat the visitors 3-2 here on Tuesday.
The win gives the Lions, who spent a major part of the tournament at the bottom, a chance to reach the last-four stages, mathematically. On the other hand, the Strykers started the tournament heading the points table, but hardly took any initiative in the second half to win the game. In the end, the team which held its nerves, prevailed in the duel. For the Lions, goalkeeper Devesh Chauhan, forward Ravi Pal and Malaysian import Md. Rodzhaninzam Radzi excelled while the legendary Dhanraj Pillay was unlucky to be struck with an injury but he continued to inspire from the bench.
Sensational striker Ravi Pal Singh yet again proved why he wears the No.10 jersey. The Sansarpur’s proud son today came out with a gem of goal, Lions’ first in this crucual match and the 200th of the tournament, amidst a maze of legs and sticks to stun the Strykers in the ninth minute. Malaysian import Md. Rodzhaninzam Radzi dived to connect a freehit from the distant midfield three minutes before the hooter, to script a dramatic finish for the Lions.
Ravi Pal Singh’s reverse hand stunner from the top of circle was matched in ferocity three minutes later by Len Aiyappa in his first penalty corner attempt. Aiyappa’s patent high-flick found the top net. With this, the Lions tails were up with two goals.
The Strykers were never a side to take reverses lightly, and launched numerous counter attacks to restore parity by half time. Tyron Perreira sent a close range parallel pass from right baseline, Devesh Chauhan came out to block but the ball trickled past him for the lean and athletic Nikhail Thimmaiah to collect and send across the goal, as there was none to cover the goalie.
However, Chauhan was alert thereafter and came out with sterling blocks and kicks to keep away the likes of Damandeep Singh, Mario Almada and Bikas Toppos, who tore the defence at will with their speed and skills. Gurpreet Singh took all the four penalty corners in that spell, the third one was really worth a goal, but he could not get past the solid Chauhan. However, even the in-form Lions goalkeeper could not prevent Bikas Toppo from striking the much-needed equalizer in the 26th minute.
Though, the Lions came out strongly in the second session. Arjun Halappa, Jarnail Singh and Ravi Pal Singh combined beautifully and forced many moves into the circle, but the others were found wanting in the finish. In fact, temper ran high in the last ten minutes. Bikas Toppo and Ravi Pal Singh almost came to blows shortly after Aiyappa missed his penalty corner shot. In the follow up of the aborted set piece drill, Ravi Pal hit the left leg of over-lapping Bikas to trigger the episode. The umpires swung into action to bring the situation under control.
However, Radzi’s athletic beauty brought the limelight back in the action as the Lions were finally able to salvage some pride. Now, they need to ensure that all the remaining four matches count. On the other hand, the Strykers and Mumbai Marines (currently lying at the bottom) must be pondering over how the situation has changed drastically for them in the span of a few days.