Lancers give Punjab a 7-0 thrashing

Indervir Grewal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 18

Too many wasted chances and Kalinga Lancers sneaking in goals against the run of play sent Punjab Warriors to the brink of elimination as the defending champions suffered one their heaviest defeats (7-0) in this year’s Hockey India League season here today.

An extraordinary goal started Punjab’s downfall, another precise finish by captain Moritz Fuerste pushed the hosts further into the ground, while two field goals resulting from silly mistakes buried the defending champions in their last home game of the season.

Their fourth defeat in a row left Punjab in last place, desperately in need of a win from their last pool game, against Uttar Pradesh Wizards, to have any chance of qualifying for the semifinals.

Notwithstanding the margin of defeat, Punjab’s performance gave hope to coach Barry Dancer that his team could finish with a win. “For the first time in five games, we dominated the midfield and created many chances. We had around 12 shots on target, but our finishing let us down,” Dancer said.

“Now we have only one target, to win against UP. Right now, we are not thinking about the semifinals; our focus can’t go beyond the next game,” the Australian added. For the second match in a row, Punjab fell behind early despite creating the first chance on goal. Kalinga’s Adam Dixon failed to stop the push during a penalty corner, but the Australian more than made up for his error. He quickly retrieved the ball from the 25-yard line, swiveled around to go past one defender, sent the ball through another before firing at goal from a narrow angle. The shot went in at the near post of Tristan Clemons, off his glove, giving Kalinga a 2-0 lead in the ninth minute.

Despite dominating in the next few minutes, Punjab fell further behind in the 24th minute. Fuerste, in hot form with his drag-flicks, sent the ball into the bottom left corner, his favourite spot this season.

Despite being behind, Punjab looked dangerous, especially when they played long balls. Unlike in their last four games, Punjab played a fast, passing, game and created many chances, though wasting all.

Despite having a clear shot at goal, SV Sunil and Sardar Singh hesitated and wasted two golden opportunities to reduce the deficit before the halftime. With pressure increasing on them fast, Punjab made two errors that led to two counter-attacking field goals by Lalit Upadhyay (34th) and Dharamvir Singh (39th), who was named the Man of the Match.