When Namdharies play with cool head, it is often said in the hockey circles, they are invincible. The team in impeccable white gear, notorious for onfield violence, for once shed its traditional image, and played a clean, perfect hockey. The result was theirs. And it was predictable the moment the ball was set in motion on the third match of the third day in the Dainik Baskar – Tracer National Championship here in Jalandhar, Punjab.
Many times title winners Indian Airlines were shown the doors of Nationals when Sher Singh scored a goal from freehit deflection four minutes into the second half. It was the lone goal of the match.
Having already defeated in their opener another big name in the Nationals —Punjab – Namdharies have made it to the semis. And who could have predicted this, that too, at the cost of Indian Airlines and Punjab, who have together won the National titles 23 times.
There was nothing wrong with the Airlines, whose team was reinforced with the release of Asian Games probables like Arjun Halappa, Vikram Pillai and Adrian D’Souza. Like every other team here, they also dished out a mediocre stuff but the fact was the Namdharies, having tamed Punjab, knew they were at the handshaking distance from making history: History of reaching the semis for the first time in the annals of the Nationals. They were thus a team possessed ab initio and effective in whatever they did.
Captain Jasvad Singh inspired the team with neat tackles, often blunting the Airlines attack that mainly hinged on Birender Lakra and Arjun Halappa. Some of the passes that Arjun sent were goal bearing ones, but there was none to use them. Once, even Arjun’s backhander just missed the cage. Introduced very late in the proceedings, Sandeep Michael came close to scoring but his deflection of a good centre from left flank just above the cross piece.
Namdharis decisively goal when run of play with a good counter attack, which they made in numbers. Namdharis in fact missed two opportunities in the fag end of the play too.
This Namdharis’s second successive win in as many days cast a doom on the match which in the early stages was billed as the match of the Nationals – match between Airlines and Punjab on Tuesday, the last day of the Superleague.
In an otherwise dull proceedings here, Namdharis set the stage aflame. And coming and witnessing hockey here makes some sense at last.
In the two matches, Delhi overcame spirited Mumbai 5-4 in the first match of the day. The ding dong battle could have ended draw but for valiant Delhi defence that thwarted couple of last minute penalty corners.
Chandigarh, trained by Chandigarh Dynamos’ famed coach Narinder Sodhi, went 0-2 down to Services, another team to play with basics intact here