More Dutch delight for India in Pro League
BHUBANESWAR: Normally when the chips are down, the Indian hockey team is known to crack under pressure. But that’s not a characteristic you associate with chief coach Graham Reid and nor does he want it to be his team’s.
In fact quite the opposite happened at the Kalinga Stadium on Sunday. When the going got tough, Reid’s boys did not cower, instead applied pressure on the opponent to earn a sensational come-from-behind 3-3 (3-1) win via penalty shootout against a top team like the Netherlands.
After the high of a 5-2 victory on Saturday, 10 minutes to go for the final hooter, the hosts were trailing 1-3 in their second Pro League match against the Netherlands. It looked as if the same inconsistent Indian team of old had turned up. But Reid has made his team unafraid to take risks and wants his players to press the opponent all the time and that’s exactly what they did.
India earned two penalty corners in the space of four minutes (51st and 55th) to convert both and level the contest. And in the shootout the seasoned PR Sreejesh did his job to perfection, disallowing three out of four attempts—only Mirco Pruijser scored—to hand India back-toback wins against the Dutch. Vivek Prasad, Gurjant Singh and Akashdeep Singh converted their opportunities while Rupinder Pal Singh and Harmanpreet Singh failed during the shootout.
“A couple of years earlier, we would have conceded more goals had we been down in a match. But players are getting matured and experienced with every match and that’s why you see the change in attitude of the team,” said Player of the Match Rupinder.
India earned two points from the win. A regulation time victory earns a team three points while a shootout win gives them two. Netherlands bagged a point for drawing in regulation time. India now top the nine-team standings with five points.
India had the better of the early chances with forward Lalit Upadhyay having two close opportunities. However, it was the Netherlands who took opened the scoring when Mink van der Weerden (23rd) converted their first penalty corner by flicking into the roof of the net from the top of the circle. India found an immediate response when Upadhyay (25th) poached the ball from the Dutch defence and made no error of judgment in converting from close range.
Goalkeeper Krishan Pathak had a terrible time in the second quarter as two quick field goals put the Dutch ahead once again, giving them a two-goal cushion. First Jeroen Hertzberger (26th) scooped home from close range. A minute later Bjorn Kellerman (27th) fired home another field goal before the break.
India’s woes doubled immediately in the second half as skipper Manpreet Singh received a yellow for a hard tackle and was sent off for 10 minutes. The hosts were lucky that they managed the entire third quarter without conceding a goal despite a man down with Sreejesh, back in the goal for the third quarter, making some excellent saves.
But nine minutes from the final hooter India found a foot in the Dutch circle to win a penalty corner with Harmanpreet Singh sending a low flick towards the goal. Dutch ‘keeper Sam van der Ven made the save but Mandeep Singh (51st) fired home the rebound. Rupinder levelled the scores by sending a ferocious flick down the middle.