Press Trust of India
Chandigarh, Feb 15: Jaypee Punjab Warriors came back from behind to hold Kalinga Lancers to a 4-4 draw in a match of HIL-IV and seal their place in the semifinal. The match also marked the first draw of the tournament.
Punjab Warriors, who now have 29 points in their kitty, became the second team after defending champions Ranchi Rays to book a semifinal berth.
Kalinga Lancers raced to a 4-0 lead through two field goals from Malak Singh (14th minute) and Quirjin Caspers (29th) before Punjab Warriors made a strong comeback with field strikes from Matt Gohdes (35th) and Jake Whetton (59th).
The Lancers drew first blood when Malak weaved his way past the opposition defenders to enter the ‘D’ and unleash a powerful drive which did not give the opposition custodian any chance.
The Lancers continued their attacking game in the second quarter and their efforts yielded results when Caspers scored off a combined moved down
the left.
From the third quarter, however, the Punjab revival started. They attacked in waves and even though the Lancers looked threatening during the counter-attacks, they failed to score as host goalkeeper Triston Clemans made a couple of stunning saves.
The hosts finally found success through a field goal from Ghodes in the 35th minute to reduce the scoreline to 2-4. In the last quarter, the disease of conceding goals at the fag end came back to haunt the Lancers once more.
A minute from the hooter, skipper Sardar Singh made a darting run down the middle and found Whetton unmarked inside the opposition ‘D’. The latter restored parity through a simple tap in.
