Champions Trophy Hockey: Rock-solid defence powers India past Great Britain to top of table

After a frantic first quarter, the harried Indian defence calmed their jangled nerves to counter-attack brilliantly for a two-goal lead and then held off a late Great Britain charge in the final seconds to celebrate an intoxicating 2-1 victory in their second match in the Champions Trophy. Against Germany, on Friday, India had drawn 3-3 and with the victory against Great Britain they now top the table with four points. India opened their scoring through Mandeep Singh (17th) with Harmanpreet Singh getting the second goal (34th). For Great Britain, Ashley Jackson got the only goal in the 35th minute. [caption id=“attachment_2829668” align=“alignleft” width=“381”] India’s Akashdeep Singh and Great Britain’s Iain Lewers battle for the ball during the FIH Men’s Champions Trophy. AFP[/caption] The Indian captain Sreejesh celebrated his 150th cap for India with a brilliant display in the first quarter as Britain pressed from the very first touch. In the first 10 minutes, Sreejesh saw off two penalty corners and a sharp deflection from Sam Ward. India were surviving through sheer luck and will power. It almost seemed that they would cave in as they gave away space and let the England forwards get the advantage of easy turn-overs. There had been a torrential downpour before the match and the turf was heavy and sluggish, which the English forwards found to their liking. India seemed short of rhythm and momentum wasn’t coming easy. The hallmark of England through the years has been pressing at every opportunity and India didn’t help themselves by not trying to cut the pace and build up. Yet, they survived by the skin of their teeth while Sreejesh ensured that the 1st quarter was goalless. With India defending most of the 1st quarter, SV Sunil didn’t have many opportunities. But in the second quarter, he latched on to a loose ball in the midfield and showed the ferocious pace that teams have come to fear. He tore down the right flank, cut into the circle and flicked to Mandeep, who like his goal against Germany, leaned over from behind England defender Adam Dixon and tapped the ball in for India’s first goal in the 17th minute. As if on cue, the sun was out and started shining brightly. Even though India had the lead, it was England who were still dominating possession. But the Indian defence structure was slowly falling into place at the back. Harmanpreet Singh, Surender Kumar, Manpreet Singh and Raghunath were not giving away loose balls and at the same time closing the gaps. The tide for India turned in the third quarter when play opened up. With their defence was playing to potential, Akashdeep, Sunil and Mandeep spread across the English defence, forcing them to keep players back. Suddenly, the game was open and even. Till that stage, England had 19 circle penetrations to India’s 10. India earned their first penalty corner, which was saved by England. Within a minute, they had the second and Raghunath’s flick hit their captain Barry Middleton on the shoulder. At first glance, it seemed that the ball had caught the stick. But the Indian players persisted for a referral. Even Roelant Oltmans, the Indian coach was seen shouting to the Indian players to go for a referral. Middleton, despite being in pain, didn’t let on that the ball had hit his shoulder. Finally, the referral was taken, with India awarded a stroke. Harmanpreet Singh converted it to give India a 2-0 lead. Middleton was then seen furiously rubbing his shoulder. The game picked up as England searched for goals to cut the margin. Finally, they earned their third penalty corner and Ashley Jackson fired in a stunner, which even Sreejesh couldn’t get close to. With the scores cut to 2-1, India were defending but with precision. They kept their bodies low, not allowing the ball to strike their feet. Surender Kumar, time and again, positioned himself well to prise the ball away from the England forwards. The fourth quarter was finely poised as England searched for an equalizer while India looked to increase their lead and close the match. India used the breadth of the turf well, knocking the ball around, trying to make the England forwards come their way. In one such move, a pass from Manpreet Singh found Mandeep on top of the circle with space to take a hit. But the Indian forward — with two goals in the tournament — completely missed the ball. It was a golden opportunity. Harmanpreet, who was having a superb game finding space in the midfield, moved up and after beating three England players just couldn’t make his last touch reach Mandeep. With under four minutes to play, England had their fourth penalty corner but the defence held firm. As minutes ticked away, England took off their goalkeeper and gave a player the bib to gain an extra player upfront. With a minute to go, Harmanpreet scooped towards Mandeep, who was standing behind the last defensive player. But the Indian forward got his foot on to the ball while moving towards an empty goal got. England still pushed as the seconds went by. India held firm to ensure that after two matches, they were unbeaten in the competition and topped the table with four points. In the end, while the Indians had trooped off to the dressing room, England appealed for a referral as they felt that India had deliberately put the ball over the line which warranted a penalty corner. But the third umpire refused to accept the referral. After the match, Indian coach Roelant Oltmans said, “Every win is good and this was a close game. We didn’t have a great start to the match but we slowly settled down and had a good match.” Speaking about the overall performance of the players, he admitted, “My job of selecting the 16 for Rio will be extremely tough as all the 26 players are putting in their best.” After a rest day on Sunday, India takes on Belgium on June 13th.