Coach Michael Nobbs identifies ‘passengers’
Biswajyoti Brahma, TNN
NEW DELHI: “Nothing to worry about,” said chief coach Michael Nobbs assuredly minutes after India crashed to their first defeat of the hockey series, a 1-3 loss to South Africa in the third ‘Test’ at Major Dhyanchand National Stadium on Thursday.
The wry smile on the Australian’s face suggested he had achieved the objective set before the series; to tryout different combinations and pick the best possible team for the Olympic qualifiers. The result clearly did not upset the coach against a much-improved South African side, which lost the first two matches, as it helped him identify the “passengers” in the squad.
Apart from the first few minutes of the match and a brief period after the break, the Indians looked totally out of sorts against a side seeking a win desperately.
The visitors took control of the match in the first-half itself scoring two goals – first a penalty stroke by Lloyd Madsen (21st minute) and then a field goal from a defensive lapse in the 35th minute through Ian Haley.
India tried to come back into the match with a series of counter-attacks early in the second half, but they were thwarted by the rival defence. Sardar Singh, Yuvraj Walmiki and Dharamveer Singh made inroads into the rival defence in a span of three minutes but failed to score.
India’s lone goal came through Sandeep Singh, who converted a penalty corner in the 49th minute. This was the only one India converted from the four penalty corners they got. South Africa sealed the contest with a fine field goal in the 55th minute through Craig Haley.
“We missed a number of chances. The basic skills showed by some of the players during the match was really poor,” Nobbs said. “But this (result) is not an important thing at the moment. The important thing is coming next month (the qualifiers),” he added.
“We will be playing strong teams in the remaining two matches,” the coach said indicating that the next matches will mostly feature players who are likely to play in the qualifiers. The South Africans, on their part, had much to cheer about as the win helped them stay alive in the series. “Finally we have a result to show for our performance,” said South African coach Gregg Clark. “They had their moments, particularly in the second half, but our team played really well to emerge victorious.”