Indian hockey girls edge past Australian Hockeyroos in the 2nd test of four-match series: 2-1
Indian Women’s hockey team, 10th position holder in the world’s ranking, overpowered 7th placed Australian team in the second test of the four-match series held at the Rockingham Club in Australia on October 15.
The Indians lost to the Australians by 3-2 in the first match.
Rejecting the pressure of the opening defeat, India rallied past Hockeyroos by 2-1 in the hard-fought battle, making it 1-1 in the series.
CR Kumar, coach of the Indian Women’s hockey squad, was quite happy over the triumph and termed it as a great comeback into the event.
Applauding the role of midfielders and defenders, he declared it as one of the greatest wins since his appointment.
The trainer underscored, “This is the finest victory of my team since I took over in April this year. I give credit to the entire defence and midfield for the win. Even, I felt if not for the missed chances we could win the match with a bigger margin”.
Although he was happy over the victory, he expressed dissatisfaction over the penalty conversion aspect of the game.
It is vital to mention here that the visitors scored only two out of five short corners they earned in the seventy-minutes of play.
He continued, “About 15-16 per cent conversion rate is ok, but cannot be rated satisfactory. But against the Australians it is a good one because they close all angles of scoring in the penalty corners”.
Both, India and Hockeyroos, unfolded the game quite vibrantly in search of go-ahead goal.
However, it was the home side that registered the first goal early in the fourth minute. Australia's Amy Corner scored the goal to establish their dominance on the scoreboard.
In response, the Indians girls made plenty of penetrations into the defensive circle of India, but to no avail. The hosts led the first-half by 1-0.
The second period completely went in favour of the Indian women. With six minutes into the frame, Soundarya Yendala scored off a short corner, equalising the score at one-all.
After exchanging a number of attacks, Vandana Katara accounted for a goal in the 64th minute and put India ahead of the Hockeyroos at 2-1.
Although the Australian girls put up a laudable performance against India, they failed to score a goal in the concluding minutes, losing the second fixture of the series by 2-1.
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