Home cheers for Comets tame as they tame Shers 3-1 on home ground

A strong defence line and a disciplined performance by the Chandigarh Comets gave them a much deserved 3-1 victory over Sher-e-Punjabs on Thursday at the Sector 42 Stadium, Chandigarh. Scoring two goals in the first nine minutes of the game, the Comets remained in control to emerge winners.

For the Comets, Gurjinder (3rd and 65th min) and Sukhwinder Singh (9th) were the scorers whereas for Shers, Matthew Hotchkis (59th) stuck.

Going into the game standing second last in the pool table must have shaken-up the Chandigarh Comets. They made their intentions clear to their rivals, who ranked second in the pool, by going up early in the match.

Scoring off a penalty corner, in the third minute, Gurjinder’s flick went left of the Punjab’s custodian Ekka.

Few minutes later, in the ninth minute, Sukhwinder Singh Gabbar pulled off another goal for the Comets by scoring from the top of the Punjab circle to take the Comets 2-0.

Notably, Gabbar was the only Comed player in the circle with as many as five Jalandhar players around.

For the Shers it was a wasted first half. Pakistani player Tariq Aziz failed to convert a penalty stroke in the 29th minute. Prabhjot remained inefficient missing a number of chances, as the Comed’s defenders presented a tuft wall on their circle periphery. Sher’s other forwards too, looked unimpressive.

Shers kept missing chances in the second half, too. A long cross pass from Gaganajit was missed by Deepak Thakur as the Comed custodian ran up and blocked him. Shers remained unlucky in the 52nd minute when a fast deflection from Prabhdeep was deflected by Matthew Hotchkis into the goal post; a goal was awarded only to be denied by a referral that followed.

Another good move by Prabhjot, Gaganajit went wasted as Deepak Thakur failed on the final finish.

Luck favoured the Shers only on the third consecutive penalty corner in the 59th minute, when Matthew Hotchkis scored on the rebound off the Comeds goalkeeper Harjot Singh reducing the lead for the Comeds.

However, their happiness didn’t last long as Gurjinder Singh scored off a direct flick in the 65th minute, on a penalty corner, thereby maintaining their 2 goals lead.

For the Shers their poor show on the penalty corners continued as they earned 5 and converted only 1. Comeds scored 2 off the 7 opportunities they got.

Comeds game domination was evident from the fact that at the half time, they led 2-0 but trailed hugely in all other statistics of the game – circle penetrations, ball possession and shots at the goals.

This win gives 3 points to Chandigarh Comeds, taking them to the fourth position in the pool table.