Dabang Mumbai’s best showing was not enough to get over the line against a confident Kalinga Lancers in Mumbai on Sunday. The home team roared back from four goals down to 4-4 in an inspired third quarter, but were then outnumbered on a counter-attack. Gaspar Quirjn's clinical finish in the 55th minute sealed a 6-4 victory for the visitors. DM has now lost four games in a row.
With three wins after five games, KL moved into second spot on the league table. The visitor struck against the run of play via two penalty corner strikes from Gurjinder Singh and Adam Dixie. Lalit Upadhyay dived to tap in a thrilling field goal, reading the pass from Glenn Turner and reacting in a flash. DM clawed back from a four-goal deficit via field goals from Florian Fuchs and Gurjant Singh. Florian almost got his second but his miss proved costly as the ball hit the side netting which triggered KL’s counterattack that killed the game.
Moritz Fuerste, the German controlling KL’s flow of play, spotted team-mate Gaspar up front. Fuerste, the captain, sized up the situation in a flash, transferred the ball to his striker with a long, powerful hit which Gaspar tapped in on the run. He swerved clear of his marker, spotted the onrushing goalkeeper and calmly slotted home. DM slumped from the high of catching up and conceded late to lose again.
Mark Hager, Kalinga Lancers’ coach, felt his team was lucky to catch the host by surprise. “Mumbai played well in the first half but we got the goals. They came back and at 4-4, the game could have gone either way. HIL teams are so close, anything can happen,” he said.
Scores:
Kalinga Lancers 6 (Gurjinder Singh-pc, Adam Dixie-pc, Lalit Upadhyay-fg, Gaspar Quirjn-fg) bt Dabang Mumbai 4 (Florian Fuchs-fg, Gurjant Singh-fg).
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