There were sound moves, good defence and a glut of goals as India staged a comeback to quell England 4-3 to top Pool A in men’s hockey of the XXI Commonwealth Games at the Gold Coast hockey centre here on Wednesday.
The intentions of the side was quite clear — avoid Australia in the semifinals, a path which was already cleared on Tuesday itself. But then, the going was not on the expected lines as England too seemed to have the same idea, what with Australia eking out a 2-1 win over New Zealand and emerged leader of Pool B.
England, after a barren first quarter, got the lead through David Condon who was bang on target after getting into the Indian scoring circle. The Indians, shell-shocked by this reverse, took a long time to find their rhythm and the turnaround came in the third quarter with skipper Manpreet Singh getting the equaliser.
Drag flicker Rupinder Pal Singh got one right almost eighteen minutes later to put India into the lead for the first time. But the joy was shortlived as Liam Ansell pierced one past the Indian custodian, off a penalty corner.
England went ahead four minutes later, this time through Sam Ward, but India was not finished. The second comeback was made possible by Varun Kumar, and then a minute later, Mandeep Singh was right on target to ensure a memorable win.
There should be no diverse opinion as to who the real ‘man-of-the- match’ was: The Indian skipper Manpreet, who, for the first time, did justice to his role as captain of the side.
