Hockey India League 2024-25: Hyderabad Toofans grabs bonus point after shootout win against Delhi SG Pipers
Hockey India League 2024-25: Hyderabad Toofans grabs bonus point after shootout win against Delhi SG Pipers
Two goals in one minute, capitalising on defensive blunders by Delhi SG Pipers and holding nerves in a tense sudden death helped Hyderabad Toofans get its first points after the teams were tied 2-2 at the end of regulation time in Match 5 of the Hockey India League at the Birsa Munda Stadium here on Tuesday.
Between two teams that played contrastingly different styles, the strong defensive and counter-attacking play of Hyderabad appeared to have the upper hand against a Delhi team that seemed to be lacking firepower upfront but continued to play attacking hockey, relying on its youngsters Dilraj Singh and Aditya Lalage with Shamsher Singh and Rajkumar Pal bringing in the experience.
But with Gonzalo Peillat in its ranks, Hyderabad’s priorities were always clear – get into the circle, earn penalty corners. It got seven of those but could only convert two – both earned within 60 seconds of each other in the 10th minute and slammed in by Peillant and Amandeep Lakra, respectively – to go up 2-0 early on.
To Delhi’s credit, it did not go into panic mode. Although both the PCs conceded were due to defensive lapses, the team took the opportunity at the first time-out to recover and regroup, gradually pushing forward from both flanks to put pressure on the Hyderabad defence. Peillat, Devinder Walmiki and Zachary Wallace playing back deeper, managed to hold the Delhi forwards before Corey Weyer’s precise diagonal pass bisected the field to Jake Whetton, who put Dilraj through. The youngster lifted the ball into the net in the 20th minute to pull one back.
The game picked up tempo post-break, with the teams exchanging control and possession, but neither could make their chances count. Benjamin Rennie, replacing Pawan Malik in the goal for Delhi, pulled off a series of saves to deny Hyderabad any extension of its lead before Gareth Furlong finally levelled in the 49th minute. Two PCs in the dying minutes of the game for Hyderabad went to waste as teams entered the shootouts.
Having won its previous outing in SO, Delhi would have fancied its chances, but with the scores tied 4-4, it came down to Wallace and Koji Yamasaki, respectively. While the Englishman was on target, Dominic Dixon denied Yamasaki to win the shootout for the Toofans.
HYT 2 (Amandeep Lakra 10, Gonzalo Peillat 11) bt DSGP 2 (Dilraj Singh 20, Gareth Furlong 49) via shootouts.
