Mohali, 17 February 2015: Riding on the impressive
hat-trick by Ashley Jackson, Ranchi Rays outplayed Jaypee Punjab Warriors by
3-2 in the League match of the ongoing Hero Hockey India League, played at
International Hockey Stadium at Mohali. With this win, Coach Harendra Singh’s boys
defeated Jaypee Punjab Warriors in their second tie and claimed the top
position of the points-table.
Home team Jaypee Punjab Warriors started the first quarter
with their aggressive attacks and fast-paced game, which kept Ranchi Rays
players busy through-out the quarter. Rays’ star players Mandeep Singh and
Manpreet Singh initiated their attacks in the beginning of the match but were
soon thwarted by Jaypee Punjab Warriors’ defenders. The Chandigarh-based team
managed to earn their first penalty corner in the ninth minute and penalty
corner specialist Sandeep Singh scored the first goal of the match, giving a
dominating lead to his team in the first quarter. Australian drag-flicker Jake
Whetton injected the ball in the D and Sandeep Singh hit the ball into the box
without giving any chance to goal-keeper Tyler Lovell. The early lead in the
match boosted the morale of the players and they continued their attacking game
to create more chances.
Coach Barry Dancer’s team got another chance in the 15th minute
when the home team earned two back-to-back penalty corners and they converted
their second attempt in another goal of the match. Australian forward Kieren
Govers took the first shot but was foiled by the goalie. Australian defender
Christopher Ciriello received the second shot and he sent the ball straight
into the net. After receiving two early jolts, Ranchi Rays could not recover in
the first half and they switched into a defensive game. By the end of the first
quarter, Jaypee Punjab Warriors led the match by 2-0.
In the second quarter, Coach Harendra Singh’s boys
stepped-on the field with better strategies and managed to keep the ball in
their control. The visitors kept charging on the opponents’ half and both the
teams fought hard to dominate the quarter. Jaypee Punjab Warriors forward
players SV Sunil, Whetton, Govers and Affan Yousuf tried hard to create
opportunities to score more goals but they faced stiff challenge from Ranchi
Rays defenders led by Kothajit Singh, Birendra Lakra, South African Justin
Reid-Ross and Australian Fergus Kavanagh. The Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s team
opened their account in the 26th minute when drag-flicker Manpreet Singh
injected the ball in the D and skipper Ashley Jackson hit the ball hard towards
the box. Dutch goal-keeper Stockmann tried to stop the ball through his left
leg but his attempt went in vain and Ranchi Rays scored their first goal of the
match. However, Ranchi Rays was still trailing by 1-2 by the end of second
quarter.
In the third quarter, both the team came on the ground with
new energy and tussled with each other to keep control of the ball. Ranchi Rays
managed to earn penalty corner in the beginning of the quarter and they were
looking to convert it in their second goal. Drag-flicker Manpreet Singh injected
the ball and Ashley received it well. However, in the next moment, he lost
control of the ball and it was snatched by first rusher Gurmail Singh. In the
rest of the quarter, both the teams struggled hard to create opportunities and
score more goals, but the score-line remained 2-1.
In the fourth and last quarter, players gave their best
efforts for their team and played harder till the final whistle. Jaypee Punjab
Warriors earned three back-to-back penalty corners but Ranchi Rays displayed
their mettle and thwarted all the attempts by the home team. Jaypee Punjab
Warriors kept on charging but Ranchi Rays did not allow them to run free.
Ranchi Rays again earned a penalty corner and once again, Ashley scored goal
for his team to equalise the score-line 2-2. Drag-flicker Manpreet injected the
ball into the D which was received and smashed acutely by Ashley into the box.
The second goal lifted the morale of Ranchi Rays and they
charged-on with quick passes in the last minute of the match. They earned another
penalty corner and Ashley converted it in his third goal of the match. The
penalty corner was repetitive of the previous one, where Manpreet perfectly
injected the ball in D and Ashley sent the ball in the net by out-foxing
world–class goal-keeper Stockman. With this outstanding hat-trick by Ashley in
just four minutes, Ranchi Rays outplayed Jaypee Punjab Warriors second time in
the Hero HIL 2015 and reached the top of the points-table with 35 points.
Speaking after the match, Jaypee Punjab Warriors Coach Barry
Dancer stated,“Though we lost the match but I am very much pleased with the
performance of the team. We have played better than our previous tie against
Ranchi Rays and we have taken a step forward towards the Final match. We lost
the match in the last moment and we accept the fact that Ranchi Rays performed
better than us in penalty corners today.”
Captain of Ranchi Rays Ashley Jackson said at the
presentation ceremony, “We are very happy to win our second match against
Jaypee Punjab Warriors. This was still not our best game today. They were on
top of us for the large part of the game but we managed to come out on the
winning side. This shows the character that this team has got. We weren't good
in the first half but came out better in the second half. It was nice to see
the improvement. We need to learn from today's match which will stand us in
good stead for the semi-finals. We will work hard on all the areas of
improvement so that we can give a solid display in the semi finals."
Hero Goal of the Match: Ashley Jackson, Ranchi Rays
Man of the Match: Ashley Jackson, Ranchi Rays
HIL Press release
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