A reason to smile for Jose Brasa as India beat England 4-3 in the second test at Birmingham and levelled the 3-test series 1-1 with the decider to be played tomorrow.
England played well in the first half as Ashley Jackson, who was voted Hockey Writers Club Higgins Youth Player of the Year in 2006, converted a Penalty Corner in the 22nd minute.
4 minutes later, the man from Rochford, Jonthan Clarke made it 2-0 and made it more difficult for the team which was already trailing by a match in the series.
India got some relief in the final minute of the first half as the Banglore Hi-flier; Arjun Halappa converted a Penalty Corner and made the score-board look a little better for the visitors.
If England dominated the first half, it was India’s turn in the second one. In the 41st minute,
Dhanajay Mahadik levelled the score-line as India got its 2nd goal, a PC conversion yet again.
Just 2 minutes later, the Chandigarh Dynamo, Rajpal Singh scored a field goal and India got the lead for the first time in the series.
In the 66th minute, young Gurvinder Singh Chandi scored a field goal and made it 4-2 for his team, which meant England had to score 3 goals in the remaining 4 minutes. Well, they could get only a consolation goal a minute before the final whistle when Jackson converted another PC and India defeated the English team 4-3 to level the series.
Apart from being 1-0 down in the series, India faced another pressure of playing on the slippery surface because of continuous rain. But they did well enough to overcome the hurdles and gifted coach Brasa his maiden win with the Indian team.
Press Release of Hockey England