In his post-match interview on Saturday, Harmanpreet Singh used the word ‘lazy’ for India’s reaction to Spain’s quick setups, and said that is what led to the 1-3 defeat. Fast forward a day, India were anything but, as a much-changed team produced a controlled performance to prevail 2-0 against Spain and register their first win of the FIH Pro League season. After a goalless first half in Bhubaneswar, Mandeep Singh (32′) and Dilpreet Singh (39′) scored from open play after well-worked moves.
Earlier in the day, the Indian women’s team played out another thriller, fighting back twice to force a 2-2 draw against England in regulation time. After Paige Gillot (40’) and Tessa Howard (56’) put England ahead twice in the match, India struck through Navneet Kaur (53’) and the star of the Women’s Hockey India League final, Rutaja Dadaso Pisal (57’). But despite Savita Punia’s goalkeeping heroics in the shootout, the attackers were woeful with their conversion as India squandered the bonus point.
India head coach Craig Fulton rang in the changes – six of them from their first match – with a couple of those forced. One of the absentees was captain Harmanpreet, who had picked up a wrist issue after falling awkwardly on the turf late in the opener. Sumit’s hamstring issue is a concern in defence too, but the players brought in more than did their jobs.
Just in the first couple of minutes of the match, there was much better energy from India in possession as Mandeep forced a save from Rafael Revilla in the early exchanges. There was much more purpose in India’s game, playing more in Spain’s half, and releasing vertical passes with a higher tempo. There were more one-touch releases too, even when recycling possession, and Spain had a hard time keeping up.
An area of concern would be the lack of penalty-corner goals over the two matches, as Jugraj Singh couldn’t quite get his radar right. India’s tempo then dropped off in the second quarter, despite having much more of the ball possession. Heading closer to the half-time, India retreated in their press too, staying more half-court. At half time, Fulton was happy that there was a bit more structure in the game today, with both teams playing cat and mouse.
After a penalty corner was defended by Spain, India restarted play at lightning quick speed, recycling possession through Manpreet Singh and Sukhjeet Singh, before player-of-the-match Dilpreet came up with a diving assist that Mandeep deflected home. Roles would reverse shortly after as Dilpreet, one of the additions to the matchday squad, rounded off a good night for India with a nonchalant chipped finish after Mandeep’s good work in build-up.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing in defence as both Krishan Pathak and Suraj Karkera had to be sharp between the posts. With seven minutes to go in the match, Karkera came up with a couple of sharp saves to keep India’s clean sheet intact.
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“It’s a nice turnaround,” Fulton told reporters after the match. “We changed a few things around. But at the same point, the players did their job. We defended better, which was pleasing. We had to move the ball better, we protected the ball better in their half. And crucially, we took our chances. There was some nice attacking play for our goals.”
Fighting draw
After their late winner in the opening match, the Indian women’s team had to once again dig deep, this time to force a draw, in a match that witnessed plenty of missed passes. But in key moments, India came up with two fine moves. The first one, involving Salima Tete in midfield and Mumtaz Khan in attack, resulted in a penalty stroke that Navneet converted. And just one minute after England scored their second, Rutuja scored a memorable goal on her senior debut, set up by a defence-splitting pass from Sunelita Toppo. While coach Harendra seemed agitated between the breaks with India’s overall performance, he can take heart from the fact that for two days running, India hit back immediately after conceding late in the match. The hosts however let themselves down in the shootout that went to sudden death, with only one conversion from seven attempts.
