Punjab punish lacklustre Delhi

The Sardar Singh-led Punjab Warriors came up with an inspired show, defeating Delhi Waveriders 5-2 in their round robin league match of the Hockey India League Season 4 here on Tuesday.

Mark Gleghorne (10th), Mark Knowles (11th) and Christopher Ciriello (22nd) put Punjab in complete control at half time with a 3-0 lead, while a field effort from Jake Whetton (37th) completed their tally. For the hosts, both the goals came from drag-flicker Rupinderpal Singh’s (35th, 55th) stick.

Since the inception of the HIL in 2013, Punjab and Delhi have been involved in some famous rivalries and fast-paced encounters that are known for their attacking hockey, but on the day it was a different story.

Delhi, who won the tournament in 2014 and were runners-up in the inaugural season, seemed to struggle with their combination after a change of a few players in this edition and a clear lack of a strong midfield.

Punjab, however, had no such problems. Sardar, who switched to Punjab after three seasons with Delhi, was the fulcrum of the team’s attacking play and fed the forwardline regularly. He deservedly took the man of the match award.

“It was a challenge,” said Sardar after the win. “I was playing against my former team and I wanted to do very well.”

The opening two quarters belonged completely to Punjab. They closed down the sides and Delhi struggled to get close to Punjab’s Dee.

Punjab, on the other hand, were methodical in their moves. Their forwardline kept Delhi’s defence engaged and earned penalty corners with ease. Gleghorne scored from the very first of those, while Knowles made it 2-0 in the very next minute. Ciriello was bang on in the second quarter as Punjab were ahead 3-0 at the break.

The hosts earned their first penalty corner of the match in the 35th minute, which Rupinderpal duly converted.

Delhi fought hard from here on but found it very difficult to stop the Punjab attackline, who created gaps with ease.

Whetton scored a peach of a goal in the 37th minute while Rupinder reduced the margin for the hosts five minutes from the hooter for some consolation.