Delhi Waveriders climbed to the top of the table with a thrilling 4-3 victory over Dabang Mumbai in the 11th match of the Hockey India League (HIL) played at the Mahindra Hockey Stadium in Mumbai on Friday. Mumbai were in pole position to clinch the tie but a late goal by Talwinder Singh snatched the match from their grasp just four minutes before the final hooter.
The first quarter burst to life when Danish Mujtaba almost put DM ahead as he dodged a few DW players and smashed the ball straight into the pads of Devon Manchester. However, contrary to the run of play, Waveriders were ahead via a penalty corner conversion in the eighth minute. Indian PC specialist, Rupinder Pal Singh was called in action and he didn't fail to blast the ball at the back of the net.
Being a goal down, the hosts pressed hard and experienced Matthew Swann cleverly brought a long ball down in the box and crossed for his teammates, which resulted in Mumbai getting their first penalty corner. But Harmanpreet failed to convert it resulting in the score still being in 1-0 in favour of the DW.
Egged on by the partisan crowd at Mahindra Hockey Stadium, Mumbai went ahead in the 12th minute and that too by a couple of goals when German striker Fuchs got in the D and sounded the board by placing the ball past the outstretched right leg of DW custodian Manchester.
According to the new rules of HIL, two strikes are awarded for field goals while one accrues for penalty corner conversions.
The second quarter started with the blue brigade ahead by 2-1 and they could have extended the lead had Harmanpreet not failed to convert the two penalty corners they got. It was end to end action as Mandeep Singh of Waveriders rounded up David Harte and pushed the ball towards the open goal, only to see it getting cleared by a Mumbai defender.
Mumbai's best chance of the period came in the 27th minute when Affan Yousuf placed himself well in the box and unleashed a powerful reverse flick, but it was brilliantly saved by Manchester. Thus, the score line remained 2-1 in Mumbai's favour till the end of the half.
After the change of ends, the third quarter was all about the waste of penalty corners. Harmanpreet missed two for the hosts while Rupinder failed to get his golden touch on four occasions. However, the Delhi defender equalised in the 35th minute after the visitors had asked for TV umpire referral for a PC. Rupinder took aim and placed his shot to the right of the goalkeeper to the utter disappointment of the fans. The scores were level at 2-2.
The last quarter was power packed with action as Harmanpreet converted a penalty stroke in the 55th minute to take Mumbai ahead by 3-2 but in the very next minute callous defending by DM helped Talwinder fire home the winner from close range as he managed to get at the end of a cross from the right.
Mumbai got a penalty corner in the final seconds of the game but they tried a horrendous stick combination and wasted the opportunity. The hosts stayed rooted to the bottom of the table with two points while Waveriders rocketed to the top with 16 points in their bag.
source:dnaindia
loading...
0 Comments
We Will Love to Hear From You! Pls Comment Your Views...........