S2H TEAM
Grace Balsdon was Great Britain’s woman of the hour on Sunday in a dramatic 3-2 win over India in the FIH Pro League at the Lee Valley Hockey Tennis Centre in London.
Balsdon came in only because goalkeeper Jessica Buchanan was pulled to bring in an extra outfield player in the wake of GB facing defeat while trailing 1-2 with just minutes left on the clock.
The player of the match struck home from a penalty corner to level in the 56th minute and returned to the top of the D to fire home the winner from another in the 58th to pull the rug from a valiant India’s feet.
India were on the way to completing a defensive masterclass. They withstood all that GB had to throw at them. Their resolve was clear – finish the season on a high after a six month period of heartbreak, upheaval, trial and tribulation.
Charlotte Watson shot GB ahead in the third minute, firing through Savita’s pads after accepting Tessa Howard’s pass in the third minute.
India equalized in the 14th minute when Lalriamsami touched home Neha Goyal’s cross into the circle.
An amazing deflection by Navneet Kaur — her 50th international goal– from Baljeet Kaur’s shot on goal put India 2-1 ahead in the 23rd minute.
Coach Harendra Singh is in charge of a WIP after Dutch coach Janeeke Schopman quit following the Olympic qualifying failure. He would, despite being philosophical and forward thinking to the hilt, be utterly disappointed with the ending after his team came so close to scripting a remarkable win.
The Indian ladies will reflect ruefully on two encounters on successive days that slipped out of their hands despite quality displays.
On Saturday, they bowed to Germany 2-4 after leading 2-0 early in the match.
Sunday’s defeat keeps them at eighth out of ninth in the league with eight points from 16 matches but enough to avoid relegation which has now to be endured by the USA.
The girls will now head back to Bengaluru, India, where they will resume their training and development programme – the urgent goals being the 2026 World Cup qualifying and the Asian Games in the same year.
Great Britain, who played their ninth game to boost their tally to 19 points, will look to fine-tuning their selection and preparation for the Paris Olympics just a month and a half away.
Like India, Great Britain had a lot on this game. The need to win after indifferent performances in the earlier games – notably the last against Australia. Individually, too, the competition for Paris places was intense.
Savita was called upon in the early seconds to keep Great Britain at bay. But the goalkeeping couldn’t prevent the hosts from surging ahead in the third minute after a GB offensive from the right.
The opening moments found Savita keeping GB at bay but soon later Tessa Howard found Charlotte Watson who shot between Savita’s pads to put GB ahead.
The momentum now firmly with GB, the Indian defence had their hands full. To their credit, they sandbagged the pressure and put India on the road to recovery.
In the closing minutes of the first quarter, the Indian ladies began to exert pressure on the GB citadel. It was soon to pave way for dividends. And how else but from a piece of enterprise and energy from the indefatigable Goyal.
The stocky midfielder slammed a diagonal cross into the circle for Lalramsiami to poach the equalizer much to the chagrin of Buchanan with the quarter-time hooter beckoning.
India and GB traded punches in the third quarter with the former showing every credential of being Olympic class.
GB’s first-quarter ascendancy seemed a distant memory as they struggled for control while India wouldn’t have been flattered had they taken a decisive lead.
Vandana had a chance to do just that as she attemted to find the far corner with a howitzer from the left but Buchanan effected an incredible save with her left glove to keep her goal intact.
Into the final quarter and India stifled GB’s frantic efforts to restore parity and looked well and truly like ending their long European campaign on a celebratory note.
But then came GB’s goalkeeper withdrawal and the entry of Balsdon with a double strike to send the packed stands into raptures.