An enthralling match between Kalinga lancers and Uttar Pradesh Wizards in the third edition of the Hero Hockey India league, played at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Saturday, witnessed the Uttar Pradesh Wizards putting their best foot forward and holding the home team to 0-2 to register their second win.
UP Wizards are now comfortably placed at the second position in the league table with 13 points, behind Punjab Warriors which is leading with 17 points in the league. The first quarter of the match saw a tough challenge coming in from both Wizards and hosts Kalinga lancers. It was only in the 13th minute of the game when Bob De Voogd of Uttar Pradesh Wizards, sneaked his way into the host's D and sliced in a field goal to give his team a much needed lead in the game.
Kalinga lancers were seen playing an attacking game in the second quarter of the match and secured good opportunities to open their account in the match but failed to cash on the chances, as goalkeeper PR Sreejesh of Uttar Pradesh Wizards was at his best and foiled all the goal scoring opportunities of Kalinga lancers. By the end of the second quarter, Uttar Pradesh Wizards were in the lead by a 1-0 margin.
Taking the adrenaline rush a notch higher in the third quarter of the match, Kalinga lancers secured two penalty corner opportunities within minutes but could not get past Sreejesh, the Indian custodian, acting as a wall before the goal post for the Wizards.
The second goal of the match came from Uttar Pradesh Wizards' Ramandeep Singh as he fired in a magnificent field goal in the 35thminute and doubled the advantage for the visitors.
The fourth quarter of the match commenced with a lot of excitement as the game witnessed repeated referrals and penalty corner opportunities coming in from both the sides and turned out to be a dramatic one. But in the end, neither sides troubled the scoreboard with the goalkeepers doing a good job of keeping the attack at bay.
For the second game in a row, a goalie won the man of the match award with Sreejesh winning it on the night. “Today our players played very well and winning is always exciting. With this win, our team's position has gotten stronger. Now, we are looking to seal a semi-final spot,” said Wizards’ coach Roeland Oltmans after the game.