The match between the two teams turned out to be exciting as
it rained goals throughout the entire 60 minutes. Though Kalinga Lancers
had a benefit of their home turf, it did not disappoint the hopes of Ranchi
Rays who stood confident enough to give a strong challenge to the opponents.
The first goal of the Hero Hockey India League 2015 went to
the home-side, Kalinga Lancers which was skillfully penetrated by Lucas Vila in
the 3rd minute when Ranchi Ray’s Birendra Lakra tried to whip the ball
away but did not succeed. Undeterred by the goal Ranchi Rays put a brave fight
and just under a minute to go in the first quarter, Barry Middleton pulled off
a spectacular straight pass goal which served as an equalizer leaving the firat
quarter score as 1-1.
Unfolding the second quarter of the game, the teams looked
confident and made full efforts to utilize the scoring opportunities that came
in. Marching ahead towards the lead, Ryan Archibald of Kalinga Lancers notched
in a goal in the 17th minute which came through a field goal. The
celebrations continued at the Kalinga Stadium when Vickram Kant scored a
beautifully crafted goal for the team in the 18thminute to extend the lead by
3-1.
Entering the third quarter of the game, Kalinga Lancers made
it clear that they had the possession of the ball and continued with their
brilliant stickwork. In the 36th minute, Ranchi Ray’s found its second
goal when Ashley Jackson put his name on the score sheet through a penalty
corner conversion giving a much needed goal to Ranchi Rays and taking the score
to 2-3. In the very next minute, another penalty corner conversion by Gurjinder
Singh of Kalinga Lancers allowed the home team to go up 4 goals to 2 marking
the end of the third quarter.
In the fourth aquarter, both the teams battled a tough fight
between the sticks in order to restrict the opponent to score further goals. To
give the team the required lead, Ashley Jackson smacked yet another goal
through a penalty corner in the 50th minute to extend the team’s advantage
to 4-3.
Just when Ranchi Rays was trying to get a good control of
the game, Kalinga Lancers got charged up and scored a field goal in the 58th minute
which came through the stick of Mandeep Antil. And to conclude on a winning
note Amir Mohd Khan gave a splendid 60thminute goal to Kalinga Lancers who
finally emerged as the winners of the first match with a score of 6-3 of the
Hero Hockey India League 2015.
Speaking on the first win Kalinga Lancers’ Coach Jude Felix
said, “Starting the Hero Hockey India League with a win is very motivating
for us. We are happy with this result and the win shows our preparedness for
the game since we really worked hard in order to post a good game of hockey
today. We continued with our strategies and played steady in the last quarter.
We continued with the strategies that we planned and played steady in the last
quarter. The team played extremely well and henceforth we have to sustain this
form to win more matches.
Speaking post the match, Kalinga Lancers’ Captain and the
Man of the Match said, “It’s a very good feeling to start the league with
a great win. The team played very well and we enjoyed the match thoroughly. We
are now very happy and emotional at the same time for our first win. Now our
main job is to maintain this momentum and continue this form with our passion
for hockey. We played as per our Coach's planning and we managed to implement
our strategies on ground. We successfully converted our opportunities in goals
and started the league with a positive note.”
Speaking on the team’s performance Ranchi Rays’ Coach
Harendra Singh said, “Our performance was good however we lost the match.
It’s a new team and new management so we need some time to adjust with them. We
are working on the team combination as there are many junior and senior players
and I am it will get better in coming matches. We made few mistakes and failed
to implement our strategies in few areas which we will rectify and come in
better shape in next matches.”
HIL Press release
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