New Delhi: The Indian Chief Coach Terry Walsh said that the first game in the Hockey World League Final was a productive game but agreed that the team lacked any rhythm or rhyme in implementing the team’s tactics or strategy. India lost 2-0 to England on Friday in their first encounter under lights at the Major Dhyan Chand stadium here.

“It was a relatively close match. It was pretty close in the first half. But we failed to capitalize on our chances,’’ he said.

But many missed the point that the Australian tactician made to in a passing reference. He said: “The team lacked the discipline. The discipline on the field is not as good as it should be.’’ This may be interpreted that the tactics, strategy or the implementation of instructions which the players were given or the psychological inputs that were being drilled in, were not working. The Indian players tend to lose their cool under pressure and make unforced errors. The coaching team has been working out on these `special moments’ where the players are being trained not to compromise on their natural game after suffering a setback.

But the Indian coach mentioned some gains he saw through. “We were able to incisively run through the England midfield. We should not forget that we are playing a team ranked world No.4,’’ he said.

Sardara Singh felt that small mistakes at crucial times cost us the match. “We want to focus one match at a time. We want to implement the coach’s plans. We will try our best in the remaining matches. It is a good experience for the team as we do not play with top teams regularly,’’ he added.

Hero Man of the Match and two-goal scorer Dixon said: “It was a tough game to open with but I was lucky to have been in the right place to capitalize on.”

Bobby Crutchley, the England coach, said that the cold weather had suited England better than in previous tournaments held in India, Talking about the game with Germany tomorrow, he said: “We will have to keep a high level of performance but it is a challenge that we are looking forward to.”

Terry Walsh, also added what he saw as some gains: “I was particularly pleased with some elements. We were pressing better and our fitness was equal to England’s, but we weren’t able to make in-roads into the circle.”

“There are special moments in a game, we had moments where we could have changed the game. We need to recognise and take those moments,” he felt.

ends