Waveriders beat Magicians 2-1 to open six-point lead at the top in HIl
Dabur Mumbai Magicians continued their hunt for an elusive win in this season of Hero Hockey India league as Delhi Waveriders tightened their grip at the top of the points table with a 2-1 win over Mumbai in a match played at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium here on Thursday. With this win, Waveriders took their points tally to 24 from seven matches and are now six points ahead of second-placed Jaypee Punjab Warriors. Mumbai and Kalinga lancers have six points each but Mumbai are above the Bhubaneshwar-based side in terms of goal difference.
From the onset, Delhi looked in rhythm with several clever moves making regular penetrations into the opposition ‘D’ area but the domination didn’t yield any goals. Simon Child and Akashdeep Singh were the ones who consistently pressurized the visitors’ backline.
Mumbai played a defensive game throughout the match and so allowed the home team to dominate. As soon as the second quarter started, Delhi’s South African recruit lloyd Norris Jones snatched the ball from Gurjinder Singh behind the half line and surged ahead by dodging another couple of defenders to pass the ball to an unmarked Akashdeep Singh, who employed a brilliant backhand strike to sound the board in the 20th minute, making it 1-0 for Delhi.
later, Mumbai’s English star Adam Dixon — who was instrumental in his team reaching semifinal at the Hockey World league played here in December — once again played his role in the mid-field successfully. He rose to the challenge posed by India and Delhi skipper Sardar Singh and it was an interesting battle of individuals.
After the halftime, Mumbai got their act together and gathered some momentum with their Australian skipper Glenn Turner, leading from the front and as a result Delhi custodian Nicolas Jacobi was asked a lot of questions. Turner came to his team’s rescue by putting the ball inside the cage in a slugfest in the 49th minute after which Delhi felt the pressure as Mumbai continued to intensify their attack.
A disallowed goal and penalty corner wastage by Rupinderpal Singh meant that frustrations grew among players from both camps and the match was going to be another tie. In tense moments, Delhi’s Andres Mir Bel, Tristian White and Mumbai’s Bharat Chikara were given yellow cards.
The winner came just four minutes before close. Yuvraj Walmiki collected a cross from Child from the goal-line and deflected the ball home in the 66th minute to beat Mumbai’s Irish custodian David Harte, who was brilliant despite conceding two goals. Delhi’s German goalkeeper Jacobi was declared player of the match.
For their next match on Saturday, Delhi will travel to lucknow to play Uttar Pradesh Wizards while Mumbai will go back home to play Punjab on the same day. “I am happy with the win today, especially the way we managed to hold the ball despite two yellow cards. Of course there is still some room for improvement and we would like to better ourselves in the upcoming matches,” Delhi coach Cedric D’Souza told media persons after the match.