HIL: Turner shines in Lancers' triumph
Thecontest belonged to Australian Glenn Turner, who scored two field goals — one in the first and the other in the last — to hand Kalinga Lancers a handsome victory.
Published : Feb 05, 2016 20:51 IST
Kalinga Lancers continued its dream run by clinching its fourth win, defeating Delhi Waveriders 4-0 in the Coal India Hockey India League at the Kalinga Stadium here on Friday. Two field goals — one in the first and the other in the last — by the mercurial Australian Glenn Turner was the highlight of the match.
The hour-long contest belonged to the Australian as he astutely grabbed the opportunities and finished them with aplomb.
In the first quarter, he collected a loose ball, surged swiftly towards the goal and succeeded in dodging the outstretched hands of a rival defender. He then bent low and hit the ball past the custodian.
With just few minutes to go for the final whistle, Turner collected a pass, and with an elegant reverse flick scored his second goal.
Delhi got just one penalty corner, and even that was squandered. The team’s ace drag-flicker, Rupinder Pal Singh, was off-colour on a day when everything went wrong for the visitor.
The first quarter saw the teams playing attacking hockey and unleashing an array of raids. Delhi’s Mandeep Singh from the right flank pressed hard, and looked menacing, but he met a resolute defence, which prevented him from moving forward. The Lancers had a chance extend the lead, but a penalty corner call by the field umpire was negated by the third umpire.
The second quarter witnessed Delhi forwards possessing the ball more frequently, and moving ahead in search of a goal. However, full marks to the Lancers' defence which thwarted a number of attacks.
The third quarter saw Lancers’ Adam Dixon getting a yellow card for a harsh tackle. Both Mandeep Singh and Talwinder Singh of Delhi made a couple of brilliant raids but in vain.
The final quarter saw Lancers’ defence holding its nerves and working as a cohesive unit to prevent the rival onslaughts. Delhi tried its best in the dying minutes of the game to get penalty corners, but in vain. It also unleashed a couple of directionless crosses that eluded the diving forwards in the circle.
Lancers, with this victory, collected five points to take its tally to 22. In its next match, Lancers will meet Punjab Warriors on Sunday. Delhi Waveriders will clash with Dabang Mumbai in Delhi on February 9.
Result: Kalinga Lancers 4 (Glenn Turner 4 FG) bt Delhi Waveriders 0.