Belgian goalkeeper Vincent Vanasch dished out a stellar performance to help Soorma Club beat Kalinga Lancers 4-3 in a thrilling match of the Hockey India League at the Birsa Munda Stadium in Rourkela on Sunday. Jeremy Hayward (11th minute), Nicolas della Torre (35th), Harmanpreet Singh (50th) and Harish Somappa (52nd) scored for Soorma while Thierry Brinkman (5th), Sanjay (30th) and Gursahibjit Singh (50th) were on target for the Lancers. In the day’s second match, Tamil Nadu Dragons claimed a 2-0 win against UP Rudras to collect all three points.
Abharan Sudev scored the opening goal for Tamil Nadu Dragons in the 48th minute, while Thomas Sorsby added a second in the 60th minute to seal the issue in his team’s favour.
Earlier, in a match which saw the Lancers notch 26 circle penetrations and nine shots in comparison to the Soorma’s 14 and seven respectively, it was Vanasch’s heroics at the goal which laid the foundations of Soorma’s win.
The Lancers started strongly as they put pressure on the Soorma defence with multiple circle entries in the opening minutes. The Lancers deservedly took the lead in the fifth minute through Netherlands national team captain Brinkman.
Soorma got their first penalty corners in the 10th minute after a swift counter launched by Jeremy Hayward, but they wasted it.
Soorma only needed to wait a minute more for their goal and it came via a penalty corner. However this time, the injection went to Hayward at the second battery with Krishan Bahadur Pathak and Sanjay unable to fully block the Australian’s drag flick.
The ball hit both players before rolling into the goal to level the scores in the 11th minute.
The Lancers won a penalty corner right before the hooter went to mark the end of the quarter. The Lancers switched their tactics by injecting the ball to Sanjay at the second battery instead of the more experienced Alexander Hendricks.
The young Indian was on the money with his drag flick to give his side the lead right at the end of the first quarter.
The Lancers had a golden opportunity to extend their lead to 3-1 in the 21st minute but were denied by Vanasch.
It didn’t take long in the second half for Soorma to draw level once again. They won their fifth penalty corner in the 35th minute and Della Torre fired his drag flick right into the top corner.
The Lancers could have taken the lead in the 40th minute as they won a penalty corner. Vansach was once again at hand to save Hendrickx’s drag flick and keep out Antoine Kina’s attempt from the rebound.
In the 48th minute, the Lancers fashioned another good chance as Bandurak tried to hit the ball from between his legs from point blank range. Vanasch was positioned perfectly to save it.
Harmanpreet finally opened his HIL account in the 50th minute to give Soorma the lead for the first time in the match. The Indian captain fired his drag flick straight down the goal with Sanjay unable to save it.
The lead barely lasted a minute as the Lancers hit back through Gursahibjit Singh. Kina dribbled past Harmanpreet in the circle and made his way to the goal line. The Belgian player cut the ball back towards the front of goal where Gursahibjit turned it past Vanasch to make it 3-3.
There was barely any time for the fans to catch their breath before Soorma scored to snatch the lead. Phil Roper danced past a couple of defenders before playing the ball towards the far post. Harish Somappa slid in to poke the ball into the empty goal to make it 4-3 for Soorma in the 52nd minute.
The Lancers won a penalty stroke in the 58th minute as Vivek Sagar Prasad was judged to have deliberately brought down Aran Zalewski in the circle. Vanasch won the battle of the Belgians as he went the right way to save Hendrickx’s attempt.
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