Eminent dignitaries Mr. Rajeev Shukla, Member of Parliament
and Cam Vale, Hockey Australia
seen enjoying the tough tussle between both the teams for the win.
Getting into their business side of the field, Uttar Pradesh
Wizards were on the attack immediately as the match started, but the defence of
Delhi Waveriders were more determined and cleared the danger. Delhi Waveriders
earning their first penalty corner in the sixth minute missed converting, but
Rupinder Pal Singh counter attacked by entering the D and scored a brilliant
field goal, giving Delhi Waveriders their first goal in the match. Seconds left
for the first quarter to end, Bob de Voogd standing in D got a clean pass but
missed hitting the ball completely, giving the Delhi defenders a chance to save
again for the team.
Right into the second quarter a back hand stroke by
Nikkin Thimmaiah in the 18th minute helped UPW to equalize the game. With both
teams attacking and trying to create openings and a chance to capitalize, the
session did not yield any further goals leaving the second half scores locked
at 1-1.
Three minutes into the third quarter Delhi Waveriders earned
another penalty corner. Opting for a variation Andrew Hayward passed the ball
to Rupindre Pal Singh who hit the ball towards the nets but was cleared by the
defence. Next minute again Delhi
got one more penalty corner to their name but this time Rupinder hit wide of
the goal.
In its bid to double their score, Delhi Waveriders just seconds away
for the quarter to end, saw Akashdeep Singh making a desperate attempt to put
the ball past the Uttar Pradesh goalie, but Sreejesh saved and Talwinder Singh
counter attacked and tried to convert but Sreejesh was too good for him too and
saved for the second consecutive time. The third quarter ended goalless with
the scores still reading 1-1.
Delhi Waveriders in the last quarter finally took one up in
the game. 50th minute and it was Talwinder Singh who passed the ball to Simon
Child standing in the D. He saw Yuvraj Walmiki having a clear chance to put the
ball in the nets and passed him the ball. Walmiki on his part, deflected it
easily in the nets. With the score 2-1, Uttar Pradesh saw the game slipping
from their hands and they increased the tempo of their attack in a bid to
equalize the game again. But Delhi Waveriders high on confidence kept the
Wizards at bay by not allowing them to score.
With 2-1 on the board, Delhi
Waveriders won the match and settled for the third position in the Hero Hockey
India League 2015 and took home a prize money of Rs, 75,00,000 lakhs.
Speaking post the match, Man of the Match, PR Sreejesh, UP
Wizards said “The team played well today but missed a couple of matches
which costed us the game. Overall the tournament was good for us but we could
not end it well”.
Post the match, Cedric D’Souza, Head Coach, Delhi
Waveriders, said “The tournament ends only once the last match has been
played. We lost the semi final match against a better team who converted many
of their opportunities into goals. The game is all about control and I am glad
that we did better with our control in the game today. I had asked the boys to
play as a unit and enjoy the game as this is the last game that we were playing
and I am happy we ended the League with a win"
Hero Goal of the Match Award – Nikkin Thimmaiah
Man of the Match –P R Sreejesh
HIL Press release
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