Mumbai, January 24: England’s Barry Middleton scored twice in the third quarter to pilot Ranchi Rays to a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Dabang Mumbai in the Hockey India League encounter at the Mahindra Stadium.

Mumbai took the lead through their Belgian forward Tom Boon in the 8th minute of the third quarter, after a goalless first-half of play, which was neutralised two minutes later by Middleton with a short range effort. Middleton then scored the match-winner in the 45th minute of play before Ranchi kept the Mumbai attackers at bay in the last quarter to emerge victorious.

It was the visitors’ first win in the two games after their 3-6 loss to Kalinga Lancers two days ago while for Mumbai, who drew 3-3 with last year’s runners-up Punjab Warriors, it was their first loss in two games. The match was played at a much slower pace than yesterday’s lung opener.

The home team, who drew with Punjab in a rousing match yesterday, clearly showed signs of tiredness in playing for the second day running. Ranchi took control of the proceedings for the major part of the first two quarters and made several forays into the Mumbai half whose defence held firm.

Barring a few moves down the right flank, Mumbai were hardly in the picture in the first two quarters.

They also wasted a penalty corner. Their star player, Australian Glenn Turner, was largely inconspicuous in the opening half before coming into the picture more later.
Ranchi, who combined better than their rivals with Manpreet Singh catching the eye in the midfield with his incisive passes, got two short corners, but failed to make any impression with both of them and the score stood goalless at the halfway stage. The beginning of the third quarter saw the pace of the game pick up a bit and as a consequence the defence of both teams was put under more pressure.

As a result it was no surprise to see the deadlock broken and it was Mumbai who scored first when their Belgian star forward Tom Boon scored a fine goal with a powerful scoop from just inside the striking circle to sound the board.

Expecting to put up better performance: Govers Mohali: Forced to settle for a draw in their opening tie against Dabang Mumbai, Punjab Warriors’ Australian import Kieran Govers said they were expecting to put up a better show when they take on Kalinga Lancers on Sunday.

“We expect a lot better of ourselves,” the Australian forward said. Dabang Mumbai and last year’s runners-up Punjab Warriors played out an exciting 3-3 draw in their opening game of the tournament played at Mumbai yesterday.

Commenting on yesterday’s match, Govers said his team feels they could have finished on the winning note had they capitalised on the two goals scored by India discard Sandeep Singh. But a last-minute goal by the opponents dashed their hopes. — PTI