Neha, Sonika score one each in Pro League tie
On a day when the Indian women's junior team earned themselves a semifinal berth against the Netherlands in the Junior Hockey World Cup, the Indian women's senior team beat the Dutch 2-1 in a Pro League match at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Friday.
Neha put India ahead in the 10th minute while Sonika doubled the lead in the 27th. For the visitors, Yibbi Jansen reduced the margin from a penalty stroke nine minutes into the third quarter.
Not taking any credit away from the Indian team, it was a second-string Dutch team that took the field on Friday. Yibbi was their senior-most player having had 23 caps before this game and they had as many as eight players making their senior debut. Moreover, not one player from their Olympic gold-medal winning team was part of this encounter.
Despite their inexperience, world No. 1 Netherlands dominated large portions of the game with Jansen controlling the midfield well. They had 13 shots on goal to India's five, 30 circle penetrations compared to India's 12 and seven penalty corners to India's three.
As for the Indians, captain Savita once again made several saves to deny the Dutch from scoring. Even during the penalty stroke, she guessed the direction right and even got a touch to it, but the ball still went in underneath her outstretched legs.
However, coach Janneke Schopman will hope that the team will do well in the midfield and while going forward in the next game on Saturday. Especially in the second half when the Dutch upped their ante, the Indian team just didn't have any answer to their dominance. Over the thirty minutes they didn't win a PC or have a shot on goal.
But they did win three PCs in the first half and scored from two of them.
The win helped India jump to the second spot on the table with 15 points from seven matches. For the Netherlands, it was their first loss of the tournament, but they continue to lead the table with 17 points from seven matches.
Earlier, the Netherlands began the game winning three quick PCs but failed to convert either of them.
India, meanwhile, won their first PC in the 10th minute and took the lead. The goalkeeper saved Gurjit's dragflick but Gurjit collected the rebound and passed it to Navneet on the left near the goalline. With no defenders around, she coolly collected it and played the ball to Neha in front of the goal who made no mistake of deflecting it into the net.
As the second quarter began, India started pressing hard. They won their second PC, but Gurjit failed to convert it. Rajwinder Kaur also had a great chance to score but with only the goalkeeper to beat, she played it wide.
However, their hard work paid off when they won their third PC with two minutes left in Q3. The Dutch goalkeeper stopped Deep Grace Ekka's dragflick but the defenders failed to clear it and Sonika, standing at the right post, put it into the open net.
Once the second half began, it was all Netherlands though as the Indians defended deep in their own half. The Dutch won the PCs and made the penetrations, but their finishing left them down. However, credit must be given to Savita and the India defenders who held on despite the hard press.
