Comets down Strykers in thriller

Deepankar Sharda
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 19
Chandigarh Comets held their act together in a nerve-wrecking thriller to defeat Pune Strykers 4-3 in the ongoing World Series Hockey (WSH), at the hockey stadium of Sports Complex Sector 42, here today.

Three goals in first seven minutes and plenty of missed chances by the home team were enough to predict the team’s fate but the home team fought back and scored the decider with just five seconds left for the game. Canadian international Sukhvinder Singh Gabbar scored two goals including a penalty stroke in the dying minutes to ensure the Comets’ victory.

Starting off their campaign on a poor note, the home team conceded their first goal in 2nd minute after Tyrok Pereira struck the wooden plank after taking a excellent shot from the left flank. But soon Ken Pereira doubled the lead after scoring another field goal in the 6th minute. In the very next minute Gurpreet Singh successfully made it 3-0 off a penalty stroke after defender Matthew Philips foul-played Armada Mario in the restricted area. On other half, Rehan Butt reduced the margin by 3-1 in the 13th minute after scoring off a defender’s deflection.

In the second quarter the Chandigarh team missed about three chances to level the score but Gurjinder Singh managed to score in the 34th minute through a penalty corner. After the lemon break, the home team came back in the match and leveled the score to 3-3 when Sukvinder Singh Gabbar scored a excellent goal after taking full advantage of a power-packed shot in the 37th minute. The last quarter witnessed a see-saw battle after both teams played with an attacking verve, but in the 70th minute Gabbar again came to his side’s resuce and sealed the victory.