BHUBANESWAR 23-Jan-2017
Last year’s runners-up Kalinga Lancers rode on a brace by star striker Glenn Turner to beat former champions Ranchi Rays 4-2 in their second home match of the 5th Hockey India League here at Kalinga Stadium Hockey Complex today. After conceding a 4-0 lead, Ranchi Rays fought back to reduce the margin through a field goal by Sarvanjit Singh.
This was the second straight win for Kalinga Lancers, who now lead the league table with 10 points from two matches. They are followed by Ranchi Rays, who now have three points from two outings. Dabang Mumbai will meet Uttar Pradesh Wizards at Mumbai tomorrow.
In an action-packed match today, Aussie forward Turner drew first blood, converting a penalty stroke in the 43rd minute, pushing the ball between the legs of the opposition goalkeeper Taylor Lovell. Turner himself created the chance by giving a back pass to Malak Singh from the goal-line. Umpire signaled for the penalty stroke as Malak was stick-checked by custodian Lovell. Turner completed his double with a field goal in the 49th minutes. The opportunity came on Lancers’ way from a counter attack after Ranchi Rays wasted their sixth penalty corner, unable to stop the ball properly.
As the ball came out of the half-circle, defender Gurjinder Singh trapped it and passed to an unmarked Turner in the scoring zone. The latter dribbled past a couple of defenders before bulging the net in his second attempt. Turner’s double fetched him both the Goal of the Match and the Man of the Match awards.
The Ranchi side scored their consolation goal in the 53rd minute when Sarvanjit sounded the board with hard hit from a goalmouth melee. Failure to capitalise on penalty corners cost Ranchi Rays dear today. They earned as many as seven penalty corners but only to squander them all. The ball was not stopped properly twice, while the hits of drag-flickers Christopher Ruhr and Ashley Jackson missed the target on two other occasions.
Lancers were no better when it came to converting penalty corners. For the record they squandered as many as five such chances, including four in the second quarter. However, their ability to foil the opposition attacks stood them in good stead. Credit must be given to Lancers’ young goalkeeper Abhinav Kumar Pandey, who like the previous match made several valiant saves today.
The 21-year-old goalkeeper from Varanasi, who incidentally started his playing career as a forward and played an important role in India retaining the Sultan of Johar Cup in 2014, was rightly awarded as the Most Energetic Player of the Match.
Lancers would have won the match by a much bigger margin had they not wasted a couple of field goals the five penalty corners. Malak Singh missed an open chance in the 55th minute as he hit wide with only goalkeeper Lovell in front of him.
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PHOTO: Kalinga Lancers striker Glenn Turner in action against Ranchi Rays in Bhubaneswar on January 23, 2017.
