DNA: Australian Hockey League: India ‘A’ lose 0-1 to New South Wales

India ‘A’ play Northern Territory in their next encounter on October 2 in the 2017 Men’s Australian Hockey League.

India ‘A’ team lost to New South Wales 0-1 in a closely fought encounter on Saturday in the 2017 Men’s Australian Hockey League. The Indian team had started with a 4-1 win against Western Australia in their opening match.

With the likes of Tom Craig, Blake Govers, Kieran Govers, Matthew Dawson, Ben Craig to name a few in the NSW squad who have played for the Australian national team, the encounter against them meant that the Indian men had to come with their best game plan. It helped that the team’s defence was strong enough to keep NSW forwards from making successful forays into India’s circle.

With goalless first and second quarter, the final 30 minutes of the match promised to be tense. It was NSW who scored first when Blake Govers beat the Indian goalkeeper Krishan Pathak brought into the match in the second quarter. This 37th minute field goal helped NSW take the much-needed 1-0 lead over India.

The final 15 minutes saw Indian forwards make desperate attempts to equalise but couldn’t find any success. There was nerve-biting action with NSW keeping up the pressure and eventually walking home with the winners points.

India ‘A’ Men play Northern Territory in their next Pool B encounter on October 2.