AZLAN SHAH CUP
Last-Minute deflection fetches Nobb’s boys their first victory
FINE EFFORT: SK Uthappas (centre) last-gasp goal gave India a crucial win
Bangalore:
A productive team meeting and a purposeful show on the field saw India edge past Korea 2-1 for their win in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament in Ipoh on Friday.
SK Uthappa scored the matchwinner in the final minute of a thrilling contest,deflecting the ball in off Tushar Khandker.Earlier,Sandeep Singh put India ahead off a penalty corner in the 11th minute before Nam Hyun-Woo’s low penalty corner flick in the 66th minute helped Korea restore parity.
Chief coach Michael Nobbs said the seeds of victory were sown in the meeting ahead of the match.The boys admitted to the mistakes they committed.Too many unforced errors were causing the problems and they said the same thing.The deep defence continues to be our main problem but the forwards realised could have helped more, he told TOI.
The first half was as perfect as it could be.The Koreans had one shot at goal and five circle penetrations and no penalty corners.It was textbook and the patterns we played worked perfectly.The second half was a little different and they pressed a little, the Aussie said,as he analysed the match.
The problem with trying to use a style of play that we have only just started to learn is that it takes time.There were occasions in the second half when we returned to the same old patterns again.I tried to get the message out to the team that we need to change the pattern but it didn’t work.This is something we need to focus on.
Nobbs was all praise for Uthappa for his unbelievable deflection goal. The SAI lad scored off a counter-attack that began after goalkeeper Bharat Chetri’s save in the circle.The move surprised Korean defenders and even before they could regroup,Uthappa had relayed the ball in.
Nobbs said his team would now concentrate on the next game against Great Britain on Sunday,after a day’s rest on Saturday.The young legs of the Malaysian team put the English team under pressure today,scoring two goals in the last five minutes to force a 3-3 draw.If we can get a point or more off GB then it opens it up for us to get to the final, he said.
In the other match,New Zealand coasted to a 5-2 victory over Argentina.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> Sports / TNN / Saturday, May 26th, 2012
