India fail to maintain unbeaten streak, go down to England 2-3 in Hockey Pro League
A three-game unbeaten streak in the home leg of the Hockey Pro League ended for the Indian men's hockey team who went down 2-3 to England on Monday (February 24).
A series of defensive lapses allowed England to seize the advantage in the opening half, with Sam Ward being the playmaker for the visitors. The Indians forced a massive turnaround in the third quarter even as Ward appeared to be faking a fall in the circle, prompting the Bhubaneswar crowd to erupt.
Craig Fulton's men came back strongly to reduce the deficit but were unable to find an equalizer in a frantic final quarter.
Manpreet Singh picked out an unmarked Uttam Singh in the seventh minute but the former captain of the Indian juniors failed to connect.
A defensive lapse from Harmanpreet Singh allowed Jacob Payton to open the scoring in the 15th minute off an assist from Rohan Bhuhi.
Sanjay picked up on a long overhead before slotting the ball across the face of the goal, enabling Abhishek to latch on and tap the ball past James Mazarelo in the 19th minute.
An incredible display of link-up play between Sam Ward and Jacob Payton allowed Ward to score England's second in the 19th minute after the duo had ripped the Indian defense apart with a series of quick one-twos.
Sam Ward sprinted into the Indian circle and finished off with a well-angled shot that beat Suraj Karkera to score England's third goal at the stroke of halftime.
Sam Ward took a tumble in the circle but replays clearly showed that the England striker had overreacted as was confirmed by the video umpire, leading to the spectators getting behind the home side.
Sukhjeet Singh reduced the deficit for India from open play in the 39th minute much to the delight of the crowd at the Kalinga Stadium.
The Indians with a spring in their feet earned a couple of penalty corners but Jugraj Singh failed to strike the target.
England won a penalty corner in the 46th minute. Henry Croft's drag flick was stopped by Manpreet Singh but England earned another corner. A penalty stroke was awarded for the ball striking the body of an Indian player on the line.
The stroke was subsequently overturned while Suraj Karkera stopped the resultant penalty corner. Karkera was taken off in the 56th minute even as the Indians pressed hard to force a penalty corner a minute later. The Indians failed to get the variation right.
Mazarelo stopped Harmanpreet Singh's drag flick after the Indians won a corner in the 59th minute thus being unable to level things up in the crucial Hockey Pro League game.
Belgium displace the Netherlands to leap to the top of the Hockey Pro League points table
The reign of the Dutch at the top of the Hockey Pro League points table ended with the Belgian Red Lions taking the top spot following a shootout win against Australia and an outright 1-0 win triumph over Argentina.
Belgium now have 16 points from seven games while the Dutch have 14 points from eight matches.
The Indians, who were on a roll ahead of the game against England, now have 12 points from seven games while England have 16 points from seven matches.
India play England for a second time in the Hockey Pro League on Tuesday.