Hockey India held by England
4 March 2018 11:00 PM IST
Ipoh (Malaysia): A young Indian Men's Hockey Team could not register their first win of the 27th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2018 as they drew their second match of the tournament against England 1-1. It was India who scored the first goal as Shilanand Lakra found the back of the net in the 14th minute and for the most part, it looked like India will take the 1-0 lead into the full-time whistle, but Mark Gleghorne's Penalty Stroke in the 52nd minute meant that the match ended a goal apiece.
It was a positive start for both the teams as they looked to threaten each other in the final third through some precise build-up play. However, it was England who had a total of 10 circle entries inside the first quarter but they could not be efficient as they took only four shots. Whereas, India kept pushing for a counter attack which saw them having only four circle entries in their opposition's striking circle, and took only two shots in the first quarter, the second of which turned out to be the opening goal of the match which was scored by Shilanand Lakra in the 14th minute. England lost possession of the ball in their own half and Ramandeep Singh's pass to the striking circle was hit first-time by Talwinder Singh, but England's goalkeeper Harry Gibson could only parry it straight to Shilanand Lakra, who made the most of the opportunity by deflecting the ball into the back of the net to give his team a 1-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter was more balanced between the two teams as India started the quarter well, winning a total of eight Penalty Corners to put England on the back-foot. However, India's efforts on goal were either saved or blocked by the English defence which meant that England survived the opening spell of pressure created by the Indian team. In the latter phase of the quarter, it was the English who controlled proceedings as they were constantly threatening to find the equaliser, however India's defence were resolute and kept all of England's four shots out to go into the half-time with a 1-0 lead.
England were awarded their first Penalty Corner of the match towards the start of the third quarter and looked to make the most of India being down to 10-me.
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