It wasn’t a great day to be loyal to the Delhi SG Pipers at the Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Stadium on Wednesday as both the women’s and men’s teams were beaten by 0-2 and 1-2 margins in their respective Hockey India League matches.
If both franchises were out of the question mathematically, a win wouldn’t have helped anyway.
The women made it clear that they had nothing to lose with the attacking approach they have adopted since facing rejection by Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers.
After a quiet first quarter, Deepika was almost broken in the 18th minute after Udita’s deliberate strike earned Pipers their first penalty corner. The Indian forward, looking to get off the bat of Elizabeth Neal, instead hit right kicker Jennifer Rizzo.
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However, it was the Tigers’ Kathryn Mullan who put the scoreboard on the line with a bold swing from the top of the circle towards Solanki Bansari’s nutmeg.
The goal difference increased as the Irish were back on the scoresheet. This time, however, it was more of a team effort as Vandana Katariya’s exceptional run culminated in Lalarremsiami deftly tiptoeing down the baseline before providing an invaluable assist.
Pipers sent off the goalkeeper in the second half of the last quarter, but neither side was able to capitalize on this action.
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Soorma defeats Pipers in the men’s match
In the men’s match, the JSW Soorma Hockey Club’s 2-3-5 attacking formation would convey the message early on. Harjeet Singh was right when he surprised Pawan and slotted his first goal of the tournament deep into the net.
Poor defending by the inexperienced Pipers saw Gurjant Singh quickly take the ball to the keeper and hit the ball into the net immediately after the restart in the second quarter.
The ruse of replacing Pipers goalkeeper Benjamin Rennie with an outfield player worked wonders when Corey Weyer withdrew one in the final moments. However, the ruse was carried out a little too late.
Results:
Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers (W) 2 (Mullan 21 and 33) bt Delhi SG Pipers (W) 0
JSW Soorma Hockey Club (M) 2 (Harjeet 9, Gurjant 17) bt Delhi SG Pipers (M) 1 (Weyer 59)
