Thierry Brinkman (No 8) celebrates one of his two goals as Kalinga Lancers beat Tigers 6-0 in a stunning result. (HIL)
Vedanta Kalinga Lancers captain Aran Zalewski had a wry smile during the post-match chat after his side’s previous match; one where they played some exciting attacking but once again squandered a lead to lose 3-4 against Soorma Hockey Club. It had been the story of their tournament so far and when asked what his team needs to do, he said without skipping a beat. “Score more and let less in,” he smiled. “But the way we are playing hockey, we are encouraged by it.”
Indeed, Lancers 8th position on the table wasn’t a fair reflection of the way they had played. A bit of luck here, a dollop of better temperament in defence there was what they needed. On Tuesday they married performance with the result, stunning table-topping Shrachi Rarh Tigers 6-0, blowing the Hockey India League table wide open.
Thierry Brinkman (3′, 47′) led the charge with two goals, with Sanjay (4′), Alexander Hendrickx (6′), Nicholas Bandurak (29′), Boby Singh Dhami (49′) also on target.
While the scoreline is the obvious headline, it was telling that Krishan Bahadur Pathak, Lancers’ goalkeeper, was named player of the match. Scoring goals wasn’t the Lancers’ issue in the tournament so far, it was the defence. That was why coach Valentin Altenburg said at halftime when Lancers had a comfortable lead: “We have been defending very badly in 2nd half, so we still need to wok on that.” That’s why Pathak’s triple save at the start of the second quarter was crucial. It kept their clean sheet intact and made sure there were no defensive wobbles.
Lancers started the match in fantastic style, going up 2-0 in the first 4 minutes. Brinkman was found unmarked by a lively Dilpreet, and the Dutch ace striker squeezed one past goalkeeper Jamie Carr. While the finish appeared simple at first, it was made possible by a clever shift of direction that fooled the goalkeeper. Shortly after, Hendrickx’s drag flick was saved by Carr but the rebound was slotted in by Sanjay.
Lancers made it 3-0 in 6 minutes and this time it was all Hendrickx as he fired in a powerful drag flick to the left of Carr. The Tigers hadn’t woken up yet and found themselves three goals down.
Pathak’s superb saves
After Pathak’s superb saves, the Lancers finished the half as they started it. Brinkman’s drilled pass into the circle was deflected into the net by Bandurak.
Towards the end of the third quarter, Dilpreet missed a sitter to make it 5-0 but Lancers won’t be denied. If there were any defensive concerns, the Lancers put further daylight scoring early in Q4. It was a fabulous reverse pass by Bandurak and Brinkman dinked it over the goalkeeper. The Lancers’ fantastic overseas talent in attack is starting to click as the connections between Brinkman and Bandurak were topnotch all evening.
To add gloss to the scoring, Dhami made it 6-0 with a stunning goal from the edge of the circle, firing in a powerful reverse hit.
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