Like in their last match against New Zealand, and on many occasions in the recent past, India scored once again in the fourth quarter during their Pro League match against Spain at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Sunday.
Trailing 1-2, India found the equaliser through Abhishek in the 57th minute when he scored from the left at the near post past goalkeeper Adrian Rafi, who had made a brilliant save just a few seconds back.
However, India couldn't find the winner, and neither could they hold off Spain for the remaining minutes as Spain took the lead almost immediately. It was Marc Reyne who sounded the board with a reverse hit past goalkeeper Krishan Bahadur Pathak in the 57th minute and helped Spain win the game 3-2.
For Spain, it was their second win in as many matches and their coach Max Caldas would be more than pleased with how his team performed.
As for coach Graham Reid, he would be quite disappointed with the performance. Even captain Harmanpreet Singh, who scored India's other goal from a penalty corner in the 27th minute, looked dejected during the post-match ceremony.
After conceding nine PCs against New Zealand, India gave away seven this time around. They did win five, but could convert just one. Also, Reid had spoken about maintaining the same intensity throughout the match, but it was almost completely missing on Sunday. They lacked ideas and failed to rattle the Spaniards.
However, although, Pathak couldn't stop the winner his performace remained the only silver lining for India. He made some brilliant saves throughout the game and kept India in the match till the very last.
Spain, meanwhile, played their heart out and made it as difficult as possible for the hosts. So difficult that even the Kalinga went quiet at times.
Earlier, India began well but it was Spain who took control of the game in the latter half of the first quarter. And with just two minutes left, Enrique Gonzalez went for the goal. Pathak saved the shot, but Spain won a couple of PCs, which they failed to convert. Alvaro Iglesias also had a tough chance in the dying seconds of the first quarter but failed to make it count.
In the second quarter, Spain went on the offensive from the word go and won their third PC in less than two minutes. PR Sreejesh saved the flick, but the Spanish players did well to bring down the rebound and Eduard de Ignacio-Simo scored from it in the 17th minute.
With less than four minutes left in the second quarter, Spain scored again after they won their fourth PC. Marc Miralles went towards Sreejesh's right. The goalkeeper got a hand to it, but the ball took a deflection and into the top of the net in the 27th minute.
Almost immediately, India finally won their first PC of the match and Harmanpreet made no mistake to put it into right of the net and reduce Spain's lead.
The hosts then had a good chance to equalise after Mandeep Singh won India's second PC with less than two minutes left in the second quarter. But Mario Garin did well to keep out Harmanpreet's shot.
The third quarter saw both the teams win a handful of PCs, but neither could score, and it went down to the wire. However, unlike so many instances in the past, India couldn't pull off a miracle and were handed their first loss of the season.
