Hockey won the day on a Sunday in front of 20k crowd

K ARUMUGAM

One women’s match followed by a men’s. Both encounters together produced an amazing 15 goals each one better than the other in conception and execution. Each match was a 60-minute thriller. About twenty thousand in the stadium watched hockey dazzling in front them on a Sunday evening. The way one team seemed overrunning the other just evaporated as minutes, nay, seconds wore on. Could one have imagined a team that amassed 4-1 lead would in fact end up 5-5 and then lose in the shoot out? Meanwhile much of the game was marred by frayed tempers of Delhi & Kalinga players but was managed with alacrity and maturity by young umpire Balaji and senior most Raghu Prasad so as to maintain tranquility and neutrality. Over all, Hockey was at its best on Sunday in Rourkela.

Hockey India League, being a through-bread commercial entity, is expected to entertain. It was accomplished in full measure today. The twists and turns the matches produced and the way Neha Goyal led Odisha Warriors tamed the Bengal Tigers, with gem of goals and assists coming from captain Neha Goyal and then the way Kalinga and Delhi waged a grim battle — and won — brightened the fans.

Delhi Pipers had an abysmal show in the Hero Hockey India League. They could just manage a solitary shoot out win in seven encounters, a dismal record for a team coached by none other than former India chief coach Graham Reid. But today they dished out a stuff that stunned usually alert Valentine Altenburg’s Vedanta Kalinga Lancers. 5-1 was the result. The one-handed ball control on baseline by energetic Tomos Tomene, immaculate penalty conversions, 4 out of 4, could not be believed as Pipers did not show any such urgency or precision so far. But today was different.

Once Alternburg’s Germany scored three goals in a space of two minutes to beat New Zealand. His wards repeated the same today in Rourkela.

Before this goal-fest, Neha Goyal, who set up many goal bearing moves for others came up on her own to punch a stunner and thus outwit colleague Yibbi Jansen  ( a brace of goals through PC) for the Best player award. Getting the epithet in a team that had the likes of Lilly, Moes, Yibbi is not a mean achievement.

Similarly, green horn Bobby Dhami too outwitted Arther Doren, Hendrickx, Aran for the same award must prove how much distance Indian starts have covered since last edition of HIL.

DETAILS

MEN: Delhi SG Pipers went down against Kalinga Lancers 2-3 in a close shootout after both teams finished level 5-5 at the end of regulation time in a high-scoring encounter. Kalinga were down 1-4 at one stage before bouncing back to level the scores and win the match in the shootout where goalkeeper Toby Cotterill Reynolds came up with three fine saves.

Tomas Domene (18th, 20 minutes) struck a brace, while Corey Weyer (21st), Koji Yamasaki (23rd) and Dilraj Singh (37th) were the other goal scorers for Delhi SG Pipers.

For Kalinga, Alexander Hendrickx (13th, 52nd), Thierry Brinkman (35th, 47th) and Angad Bir Singh (49th) were the goal-getters as they brought their side back into the contest.

Delhi SG Pipers secured the first penalty corner in the fourth minute but failed to utilize the chance as Jarmanpreet Singh’s effort went in vain. Jarmanpreet was lively inside the Kalinga half, creating a lot of chances but he didn’t get the required support from his Delhi SG Pipers teammates. Delhi SG Pipers were the more proactive team in the first quarter but Kalinga, somehow, managed to hold them.

Kalinga broke the deadlock in the 13 minutes against the run of play from their first penalty corner through Hendrickx. They were the better side on display in the final five minutes of the first quarter with a number of circle penetrations from the left flank but failed to convert the opportunities into goals.

Delhi SG Pipers took the initiative into their own hands in the second quarter and scored two goals within two minutes to take a 2-1 lead. Three minutes into the second quarter, Delhi SG Pipers secured their second penalty corner with Jarmanpreet again on the forefront and this time Domene found the net with his dragflick.

In the 20th minute, Dilraj Singh won another penalty corner for the Delhi side and this time Domene was bang on target with a powerful flick to the bottom corner of Kalinga’s goal.

A minute later, Delhi SG Pipers won another penalty corner and this time Weyer scored from a deflection. As if it was not enough, it was raining penalty corners for Delhi SG Pipers as they secured back-to-back set pieces, their sixth. Kalinga goalkeeper Krishan Bahadur Pathak saved the first opportunity but Yamasaki scored from the second chance from a deflection.

In the 26th minute, Kalinga earned two consecutive penalty corners but wasted both chances as Delhi SG Pipers went into the breather with a comfortable 4-1 win lead.

Two minutes after the change of ends, Delhi SG Pipers shuffled their goalkeepers with Benjamin Rennie taking Pawan’s place in front of the goal.

Kalinga, however, reduced the margin minutes later through Brinkman’s field strike. Trailing by two goals, Kalinga showed a lot of urgency and secured another penalty corner but Rennie pulled out a brilliant save.

Seconds later, Delhi SG Pipers extended their lead to 5-2 when Dilraj scored from a brilliant assist from Domene.

It was end-to-end action as Kalinga secured a penalty corner a minute later but once again failed to get past Rennie in front of Delhi SG Pipers’ goal to go into the third quarter with their three-goal lead intact.

Kalinga took off their keeper at the start of the fourth quarter and the numerical superiority in the outfield proved too much for Delhi SG Pipers. Two minutes into the final quarter, Brinkman brilliantly tapped in a pass from Kina from just outside the circle.

Kalinga struck again two minutes later through Angad Bir Singh’s field goal. They drew parity in the 52nd minute from a penalty corner which was neatly converted by Hendrickx in the right corner. At the stroke of the final hooter, Kalinga secured a penalty corner but failed to convert as the match into a shootout.

The loss meant Delhi SG Pipers continued to languish at the bottom of the table. The team from the national capital will next play Punjab’s Soorma Hockey Club in Ranchi on January 22.