India concede last-minute goal, held to 1-1 draw against Korea

Ipoh, March 24 

India’s perennial problem of conceding at the fag end of a match hurt them again as South Korea equalised in the final minute for a 1-1 draw in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey.

India took the lead in the 28th minute through Mandeep Singh and looked set to earn their second consecutive win in the six-team tournament but a defensive error led to Jonghyun Jang scoring off a penalty corner just 22 seconds from the final hooter. 

Rain stops play

The match was stopped in the fourth quarter due to heavy rain with around eight minutes left in the match.

In the initial minutes of the second quarter, India won a penalty corner but the drag-flick was cleared by the Korean goalkeeper. The following minutes saw Korea execute the full-press to limit India’s circle entries. Though the tactic was good, they lost three players (Kim Hyeongjin, Jihun Yang and Lee Namyong) to green cards that reduced their strength to eight players. India found easy gaps to make circle entries and Mandeep struck the first goal in the 28th minute. India maintained a good structure, relied on a strong defence with precise marking, and constantly pushed the Korean defence to make forays into the striking circle.

Defensive error 

India began the third quarter with a defensive error and saw Korea being awarded their first penalty corner of the match. But India’s rusher Amit Rohidas did well to ward off the danger. With a little over eight minutes remaining for the final hooter, the game was stopped due to rain. When play resumed, South Korea put up an attacking front to win back-to-back penalty corners but did not get any success.

With 53 seconds remaining, South Korea won another penalty corner, but Jonghyun Jang’s powerful drag-flick was brilliantly saved by India goalkeeper PR Sreejesh. A referral by the Koreans saw them being awarded another penalty corner, and this time, Jang was on target to snatch a draw for his side. India will take on Malaysia on March 26 after a rest day on Monday. — PTI

India 1-1 S Korea 

•  Mandeep Singh (28th min), Jonghyun Jang (60th min)
•  Canada 4-0 Poland
•  Malaysia 4-3 Japan

We should have put away the game and scored a couple more as we had better chances in the first three quarters. But we did not take those chances that came our way. The rain allowed them to catch their breath and come away with a point — David John, india’s interim coach