Five out five for Ranchi Rays at home turf.

14th February, 2016, Ranchi: Ranchi Rays achieved a rare feat today when it won its fifth home match (Ranchi Rays 1 Dabang Mumbai 0), while all other teams had difficulty to even post token home wins in the on going Hockey India League. Ranchi Rays today defeated Dabang Mumbai 1-0 and maintained their status of table topper with 37.

Ranchi Rays is also the first and so far the only one out of six HIL teams to qualify for the semifinals.

Teams like Mumbai, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh struggled to make even a token win at home, a salient feature of this year’s HIL. Defying the odds, Ranchi has won all its home matches, which is a feat indeed.

After two barren quarters, the break came in the third quarter.

At 35th minute, Ranchi Rays captain Ashley Jackson struck through its only penalty corner.

Dabang Mumbai continued to attack in search for an equalizer but none of the attacks were able to penetrate the Ranchi defense. The golden opportunity for Mumbai came in the 44th minute through a penalty corner but it was beautifully saved by the Ranchi Rays goalkeeper Tyler Lovell.

Dabang Mumbai got an opportunity through back to back penalty corners but Tyler Lovell continued to refuse to be beaten. Dabang Mumbai dominated the play for the last moments of the fourth quarter making regular circle penetrations but none of the shots could get through the tall figure of Tyler Lovell. Dabang Mumbai failed got two penalty corner opportunities in the closing moments of the match but failed to convert them. The match ended with a win for the Ranchi Rays 1-0.

Goal of the Match: Ashley Jackson from Ranchi Rays
Most Entertaining Player of the Match: Daniel Beale
Man of the match: Kothajit Singh

Emerging Player of the Match: Kothajit Singh