The Hindu : India fumbles in the final minutes

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jun 02, 2003

Sport

Sport - Hockey

India fumbles in the final minutes

By S. Thyagarajan

Australia's Michael McCann (left),who scored the match winner, celebrates with Jamie Dwyer (centre) and Liam De Young in the final of the tri-nation hockey competition against India in Perth on Sunday. — AP

Australia `A' 2 - Pakistan 1

Australia 2 India 1

Perth June 1. On a sombre afternoon with a steady drizzle drenching the players, India tumbled from the threshold of victory to a tragic reverse conceding the equaliser and the match winner in the last five minutes of the tri-nation hockey competition at the Perth Hockey Stadium here this afternoon.

It had all the ingredients of a final, but the pity of it all was the melancholic end for India, which played superb hockey lacing technical excellence almost throughout, revealing charm, craft and consistency. Neither side had scored in the first half.

It seemed a perfect day for India to conquer the Aussies and everything was working immaculately for it. India was authoritative, matching the Aussie fervour and athleticism with its finesse and fluency. Even in devising the strategy, India was a step ahead of the Aussies. The move to shackle the play-maker, Brent Livermore, with Jugaraj Singh throughout was a master plan that succeeded to the hilt.

The defence once again played superb waiting game, and the frontline of Dhanraj and Dhillon tormented the rival defence repeatedly. But it was the well-organised defence that froze the Aussie attack. With the trump card Livermore in chains as it were, the Aussies perforce had to depend on the wing half, Paul Gaudoin for the openings.

Gaudoin did his role to perfection but the frontline — despite the good work of Jaime Dwyer and trustful Troy Elder — made no impression on the defence.

It would be invidious to pick anyone for praise in India's defence phalanx, but the highest marks should go to Jugraj for completely rendering Livermore ineffective. He followed the wily Australian like a shadow. As always, Bimal Lakra and Ignacious Tirkey caught the eye with Viren Resquinha. Everyone tackled without inhibitions and helped to make the contest a truly exciting and exhilarating one.

Incisive and imaginative, Dhanraj Pillay raised ripples of excitement whenever he wove in along with Baljit Singh Dhillon. If only Gagan had seized his chance, the outcome would have been different. Early in the match, Dhillon served an excellent pass for Gagan whose loose flick was saved without any fuss by Mark Hickman.

Midway in the second half, Bimal came up with an adroit pass to Dhanraj who put Dhillon. Goal-keeper Mark Hickman stopped the shot. Saini picked up the rebound, but he could take only a feeble shot.

India secured its only penalty corner of the match midway in the second half and that concluded in the lead. Dhillon pushed the ball and Dhanraj deflected it into the goal amidst jubilation all round. Thrilled by the development, the Indians held the advantage clearly but as the match began to stretch they needlessly resorted to be more defensive, scooping the ball over the sidelines repeatedly. That negative approach was unwarranted, as the end result showed. There were few errors in trapping by Ignace and Kanwalpreet, but that did not cause any harm.

As minutes ticked by, the Aussies were desperate for the equaliser. They pooled all their resources and attacked with gusto. There were tense moments near the Indian goal though Devesh Chauhan held on gamely. But when five minutes remained to the hooter, Australia forced a penalty corner and Jaime Dwyer flicked the ball into the net.

India surged into the attack again, threatening the Aussie citadel. A free hit by Jugraj caught the defence off guard but Bimal Lakra failed to make capital out of a glorious chance just a yard in front of the goal. It was at this point that an aerial ball left the Indian defence stranded as Nathan Eglington picked it up and passed to the unmarked Mike McCann, who slotted in the match-winner.

Yet again, it is a chapter of so near and yet so far. The frequency of such reverses coming in the final minutes has to be tackled and remedied. Unless the defence manages to hold on till the hooter without relaxing a bit, such hard luck stories may only continue in future.

Pakistan finishes last

Humiliation for Pakistan was complete when it frittered away the lead and conceded two goals in as many minutes to the Australia `A' team. Pakistan has lost all the four matches it played in the first edition of these twin tournaments. Actually, Pakistan looked somewhat assured and worked out a few good moves thanks to the good work in the mid-field by Saqlain, who also scored midway in the second half.

The Aussies were not that dominant as they were on Saturday against the main team. Till four minutes from end, they were trailing by a goal, but in a sudden burst they scored twice. Grant Schubert produced a perfect deflection of a penalty corner and even before the cheers died down he scored again, capping a splendid move.

Grant Schbert has been outstanding in the tournament, scoring five goals in two days.

The teams:

India: Devesh Chauhan (Gk), Kamalpreet Singh (Gk), Dilip Tirkey, Kanwalpreet Singh, Jugraj Singh, Baljit Singh Saini, Bimal Lakra, Viren Resquinha, Ignace Tirkey, Vikram Pillay, Baljit Singh Dhillon, Dhanraj Pillay (Capt.), Gagan Ajit Singh, Prabhjot Singh, Mukesh Kumar and Arjun Halappa.

Australia: Mark Hickman (Gk), Stephen Mowlam (Gk), Jaime Dwyer, Liam de Young, George Bevan, Micheal McCann, Paul Gaudoin (Capt.), Troy Elder, Nathan Eglington, Craig Victory, Tristram Woodhouse, Scott Webster, Aaron Hopkins, Mathew Wells, Travis Brooks, Brent Livermore, and Dean Butler.

Umpires: Craig Gribble (New Zealand) and Rana Liaquat (Pakistan)

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