1 goal in Hockey and few saves today, against Australia “A” saved India from being beaten for the first time on Australia Tour 2019. The goal came from dragflicker Harmanpreet Singh, in the 56th minute, which equalized the lead opponents had on the visiting team.
Saves That Kept India in the Run:
India had two goal saves in the early moments of the first quarter under pressure against Australia ‘A’ attack. The players involved in these saves were goalkeeper Krishan Pathak and defender Gurinder Singh.
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More saves came in during the second and third quarter wherein India came up with commendable PC defense to deny Australia ‘A’ from converting the two PCs they were awarded in the second and third quarter respectively.
One Miss By Indian Defense that put India Behind on Scoreboard:
The only miss came from India in the 21st minute when Kiran Arunasalam of Australia ‘A’ struck a fine field goal.
One Goal That Kept India Unbeaten in this match:
One goal by Harmanpreet Singh in the 56th minute saw India overcome a 0-1 deficit to draw 1-1 against Australia ‘A’.
The first quarter ended in a stalemate, while the second quarter ended with 1-0 scoreline in favor of Australia “A” with Kiran Arunasalam’s 21st minute goal.
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The third quarter ended with same scoreline 1-0 in favor of Australia “A”, and it was final/fourth quarter that saw India equalize and save the match.
Speaking post the match the Indian Chief Coach Graham Reid said, We had a poor start in the first ten minutes of the game which was a complete opposite to how we played on Friday.”
On the fightback shown by his wards, he added, “We slowly got back into the game in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th quarters and also created enough opportunities to win the game.”
India would do well to learn from their mistakes in not being able to covert the chances into goals, the match had some.
Before this match, India had registered a 2-0 win against Western Australia Thundersticks and 3-0 win against Australia ‘A’.
On Wednesday, India will take on the Australia National team and if they wish to emerge on top, the team will need to start much better and keep the pressure on their opponents in all four quarters, as per the Indian Chief Coach.