Ranchi, Jan 18 UP Rudras held their nerves to register a narrow 1-0 win against Team Gonasika in the Hockey India League 2024-25 here at the Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda Hockey Stadium on Saturday.
This hard-fought win put UP Rudras in the third place of the points table with the phase I of the league ending today. It was Rudras' skipper Hardik Singh who led from the front and also scored the lone goal in his team's victory.
Even though it was the Gonasika who got off to a grand start with their strikers making early forays in the opening quarter, fetching a couple of PCs, they couldn't make the chances count. Just as it seemed like the opening quarter would end up in a stalemate, an unfortunate defensive error by Gonasika skipper Manpreet Singh gave away a crucial penalty stroke to the UP Rudras which came off a self-referral by the on-field umpire. With less than 60 seconds on the clock for the first hooter, UP Rudras' captain Hardik Singh made no mistake in pumping this one into the net and earning his team a crucial 1-0 lead.
The following quarter saw Gonasika look for the right opportunity to equalise and they even had a couple of chances when they won a flurry of PCs. But their dragflicker Timothee Clement could not make the target. The quarter saw some skillful stick-work in the midfield by UP Rudras Hardik Singh who was egging his forwards' on to double the lead. But the quarter ended with no goals being scored.
Down by a goal, Gonasika were desperate to score and they began the third quarter with that intent. Only three minutes into this quarter, Gonasika won a PC but Araijeet Hundal taking the dragflick was blocked by Rudras' rushers. In the following minutes, Rudras dominated the ball possession with classy dribbling and structured play. In the 42nd minute of the game, Gonasika won their seventh PC of the match but they messed the opportunity up by not being able to trap the ball. This quarter too eventually ended goalless.
The final quarter was tense with some intense tackling on display between Gonasika and Rudras' stalwarts Manpreet and Lalit Upadhyay. This showed the two teams' intent to push for a winner. In the 50th minute, Gonasika managed another PC but a goal eluded them. Manpreet created a great opportunity to score when he set up Jack Waller but Rudras showcased great defending to stay in the lead.
With less than five minutes left for the final hooter, Gonasika's Clement took a fine shot on goal but James Mazarelo was brilliant at the goalpost. Poised for a win, Rudras warded away a potential equaliser when Gonasika again won a PC in the dying moments of the match. They held their nerves to end up on the winning side.
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