India won 1-0 against Ireland in the FIH Pro League on Friday, courtesy a last-minute shot from Gurjant Singh, but it was a game the host would hope to remember and learn a lot from about how much work it still needs to do and forget in terms of the result.
It was a tactically brilliant game between coach Fulton’s current and former wards, one for the textbooks but nothing for the viewers. The Irish had their plans clear – defend in numbers, don’t bother much with attack unless in with a clear chance and deny India any shot at goal. They did it admirably almost till the very end. With clean tackling and precise defending, they negated anything India tried to throw at them. It made for boring visuals and fascinating lessons.
For extended periods, all 11 Irishmen were packed inside the circle and still India could not find a way to get too many PCs. When it did – six in total – the Irish defence and goalkeeper Jamie Carr stood firm. And yet, despite the relentless pressing, there was little creativity from India to disrupt the defence. India seemed to be waiting for things to happen rather than making them happen.
Poor basics including trapping and passing did not help, off-target hurried shots threatened little and for once, the Indians looked spent, both in body and mind. Post break, the Irish got a little more adventurous and attacked more but were unable to score. The deadlock-breaker came when Hardik passed the ball to Gurjant, who waited for it to cross into the circle before smashing in from the top, finally managing to beat Carr for India’s second win in the competition as Fulton looked more relieved than happy.
The day’s earlier game was a contrast with the Dutch showing how to cut Australia’s speed and get open goals without waiting for PCs, at least for the first half. They raced to a 3-0 lead before the Aussies regrouped, changed plans and struck five goals, including three in the final quarter, for a 5-4 win, the winner coming with less than 40 seconds on the clock.
The clash of contrasting styles seemed to go the Dutch way -- building patiently, switching flanks smoothly, long, grounded passes with pin-point accuracy and one-touch hockey of possession that curbed the natural Aussie blistering pace with perfect positioning inside the circle. Post break, the Australians restricted the zones, stuck to short passes to gradually push back and, once past the 25 yard line, accelerating at will to break into the Dutch circle.
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