The Tribune: Punjab edge Ranchi in a bumpy ride

19 January 2016

Australian livewire Jake Whetton scored off a rare slip-up in the match as Punjab Warriors started their campaign with a 2-0 win over Ranchi Rays in Hockey India League here today. Captain Sardar Singh stole the ball at the centre-line and his first-time pass found Whetton in the rival third. Whetton easily rounded off the hapless goalkeeper to score and set up what seemed like an exciting affair. But, disappointingly, the second-minute strike turned out to be the climax of an otherwise drab and literally wobbly affair.

The match, played on the newly laden synthetic turf, lacked any sort of coherence in attack. There were few half chances and fewer penalty corners. The reason was that the turf was very bumpy. The forwards were finding it hard to stop the ball, which slowed the game and made it a jerky affair.

Ranchi Rays coach Harendra Singh, without using it as an excuse for the loss, answered in the affirmative that the turf was very bumpy. “It was bumpy for both the teams so it is no excuse. But yes, it was very bumpy,” he said.
And shockingly, there were wrinkles visible to the naked eye all over the field. So, the players have to be forgiven for the low-scoring affair, especially after UP Wizards’ enthralling 8-6 win over Kalinga Lancers in the opening match yesterday.

But despite the issues, what stood out was the defence of both the teams, though, the hosts proved tactically a bit better. Led by Mark Knowles, the reigning world player of the year, the Warriors gave very little space to the Ranchi forwards.

“I am really satisfied with our defensive performance today. We knew we had to play good hockey and we did. But it wasn’t our best and we have to improve a lot,” Punjab coach Barry Dancer said.

Sardar added: “Our aim was to win the first match, so after getting that early lead we played really well.”
For Ranchi it was that initial error in an otherwise good outing that cost them the game. “That goal shouldn’t have been conceded and we couldn’t recover from that. Otherwise we played well.”