Five minutes was all it took for Jaypee Punjab Warriors to turn the game around and register its third win in four games to stay on top of the table in the third edition of the Hockey India League (HIL) here on Friday.
Punjab beat Delhi Waveriders 3-1 to not only avenge its defeat in the final last year but also deny the host its first win of the season.
With this, Punjab remains unbeaten this season and has 17 points, while Delhi is struggling at the bottom of the table with just five points. Three minutes into the game, Simon Child deflected in an Akashdeep Singh cross from the left to put his team ahead even as Punjab goalkeeper Jaap Stockmann was wrong-footed.
The turnaround began in the fourth quarter. Punjab’s fourth penalty corner finally came good when Christopher Ciriello shot in low in the 50th minute.
Four minutes later, Agustin Mazzilli slapped the ball past the goalmouth from left to right and S.V. Sunil latched on to it to put the visitor in the lead.
And two minutes later, an unmarked Affan Yousuf put the ball into the top of the net.
The result: Jaypee Punjab Warriors 3 (Christopher Ciriello, S. V. Sunil, Affan Yousuf) bt Delhi Waveriders 1 (Simon Child).
