Rajendra Prasad Mohapatra
Bhubaneswar, Jan 21: Kalinga Lancers opened their points account and scripted their first victory in the fourth edition of the HIL with a 4-2 win over last season’s last-placed team, Dabang Mumbai at the Kalinga Stadium here, Thursday. It was a great moment of joy for the home fans who had thronged the stadium in thousands to cheer their team.
Lancers seemed to have learnt from their last match’s mistakes and did not disappoint the home fans again in a game which started 11 minutes ahead of schedule. They started with the right attacking intent and created chances. However, the players missed chances in the fourth, sixth and 11th minutes of the first quarter. In between Andrew Charter of Lancers also came to his side’s rescue with a brilliant diving save. The first 15 minutes ended goalless despite some brilliant attempts by the men in orange and white.
The second quarter was an encore of the first, with Lancers, once more dominating proceedings. Prolific striker Glenn Turner had a great opportunity in the 19th minute but failed to hit the target from close. In the 21st minute the home side earned a penalty corner. However, Gurjinder Singh was off the mark with his hit. The only good attack from the Mumbai side came in the 25th minute, but skipper Matthew Swann just failed to tap in, with the opposition custodian at his mercy. The teams went into the breather with the scoresheet yet to register a goal.
The third quarter started with Mumbai putting their foot on the accelerator. They got a penalty corner in the 34th minute, but could not convert. A minute later, however, they were a one up as Florian Fuchs scored a brilliant opportunistic goal. His speed caught the Lancers defenders off guard and Fuchs made no mistake from the right corner of the ‘D’ with a powerful shot.
Alarmed that Mumbai had gone ahead, the hosts attacked in waves. After local boy Stanli Minz had muffed an opportunity, Lancers drew level much to the joy off the 6,000-odd spectators in the ground. Adam Dixon picked up a pass from Malak Singh in the middle third of the opposition area and then weaved his way to strike home from close with a few seconds to go for the end of the third quarter.
Even though, the visitors got a penalty corner in the 48th minute, Charter was up to the task with a good save. Then came the much-awaited moment the crowd was waiting for. Skipper Moritz Furste was quick to spot an opening in the opposition defence and found Turner with a pass of pin-point accuracy in the ‘D’. The latter made no mistake and the Lancers had secured the vital lead at 4-2.
The scoreline could have looked better had Lancers, particularly Devinder Walmiki, converted a couple of chances that came his way in the closing stages. Furste was adjudged man of the match for his great work in the midfield.
