At HIL 2024, Spaniard Enrique Gonzalez put Vedanta Kalinga Lancers ahead in the 13th minute, but the side failed to build on the early momentum in their opening Hockey India League match as UP Rudras scored thrice at the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium here on Monday, December 30.
Gonzalez struck home following a mesmeric run by Sanjay who squared it to the Spaniard as the Kalinga Lancers dominated the opening quarter and were ahead until Kane Russell equalized through a penalty corner in the 45th minute.
Sudeep Chirmako put Rudras ahead through a deflection in the 50th minute, but that did not deter Kalinga Lancers who upped the tempo in their search for the equaliser that saw Gursahibijit Singh’s excellent try in the 55th minute saved by the Rudras’ goalkeeper Mazarelo.
Russell scored the final goal in the final minute also through a penalty corner.
“We started well but I guess we slacked a little in our defence, and later when we advanced into their D our finishing could have been better,” said goalkeeper Krishan Pathak, the stand-in captain for an indisposed Australian Aran Zalewski.
“We could have focused on controlling the ball more in the later stages of the match, but I guess this is a learning experience. We will watch the match replays and try not to repeat the mistakes in the coming matches,” added the India goalkeeper, who was off the field in the final minutes.
Explaining Pathak’s absence, German coach Valentin Altenburg explained, “Because we were down on the scoreboard, we wanted to have an additional field player to have more pressure on them. We did it I think four minutes before the end of the game so as to risk a little and we had two good chances within those four minutes.
“So for us today, it’s also about growing, it’s also about learning and it’s always very important how you play at the end of the game and if you’re down on the scoreboard, you need maybe an additional field player. So it was good for us to have the experience today. And I’m also very happy with the game overall because there was lots of good stuff and also important things to learn and we take that with us,” he added.
Kalinga Lancers next play Tamil Nadu Dragons here on Friday, January 3.
