Chasing a victory after six matches into the Hero Hockey India League, Dabur Mumbai Magicians ended up chasing the ball and shadows at the Mahindra stadium.
Jaypee Punjab Warriors controlled the flow of play after hitting early field goals to run away deserving winner at 4-1. This was the Warriors’ fourth win in six games.Jamie Dwyer showed the way with tireless off-the-ball tackling, his teammates policed all routes to the goalmouth efficiently. Drag flicker Sandeep Singh had a quiet game at the back, converted a stroke and watched speedy S.V. Sunil, stocky Dharmvir Singh and nippy Affan get into the act with field goals. Down by four goals, the home side converted ball possession into a goal.
Glenn Turner went off on a long run down the right, pulled the ball back for Vinaya, following up on his left to scoop home the rebound.
Special Correspondent reports from Lucknow
Waveriders post win
Delhi Waveriders rode on Simon Child’s brace to record a 4-3 win over Uttar Pradesh Wizards.
Waveriders has 29 points from five wins in eight matches, and remains at the top. With one point from its second loss, Wizards was static at fourth place with 16.
The tourists raced to a 4-0 lead in 20 minutes. Talwinder Singh opened the scoring in the eighth minute, and drag-flicker Rupinderpal Singh extended the lead six minutes later.
Wizards then paid the price for poor defence as Child took advantage of an unmanned home circle to put Jason Wilson’s 19th-minute cross into the goal. Then, the Rupinder-Child combine outwitted the Wizards a minute later.
The host staged a tremendous fight-back after that.
Dutch legend Tuen de Nooijer dribbled past five Waveriders players to feed V.R. Raghunath, and the home captain directed it to an unmarked Nikkin Thimmaiah who shot home five minutes before half-time. Raghunath converted a penalty corner early in the third quarter, and de Nooijer scored off Pardeep Mor’s cross to make it 4-3.
The results: Jaypee Punjab Warriors 4 (S.V. Sunil 3, Dharamvir Singh 16, Affan Yousuf 24, Sandeep Singh 25) bt Dabur Mumbai Magicians 1 (V.S. Vinay 30).
Delhi Waveriders 4 (Talwinder Singh 8, Rupinderpal Singh 14, Simon Child 19, 20) bt Uttar Pradesh Wizards 3 (Nikkin Thimmaiah 30, V.R. Raghunath 38, Teun de Nooijer 58).
