India Men’s Tour of Australia | Australia A hold India to 1-1 draw
Hockey India
After losing the first game by 3-0 goals, Australia A managed to hold the visiting India men’s hockey team to 1-1 draw in the second game at Perth Hockey Stadium on Monday. Harmanpreet Singh scored a goal for the Indians in the last quarter after Kiran Arunasalam had opened the scoring.
A late goal by dragflicker Harmanpreet Singh in the 56th minute saw India overcome a 0-1 deficit to draw 1-1 against Australia 'A' in a well-contested match here today. Earlier in the tournament India had registered a 2-0 win against Western Australia Thundersticks and 3-0 win against Australia 'A'.Â
Two good saves in the initially minutes of the first quarter by goalkeeper Krishan Pathak and Gurinder Singh while defending back-to-back PCs awarded to Australia 'A' was confidence-boosting for India. The attempt had somewhat made up for an average start by the visitors as Australia 'A' attack put the team under pressure right from the start. Â
While the first quarter ended in a stalemate, the visitors suffered a setback in the 21st minute when Kiran Arunasalam struck a fine field goal for Australia 'A'.
India's defence, on the other hand, was able to contain the home team from taking a further lead and also came up with commendable PC defending to deny Australia 'A' from converting the two PCs they were awarded in the second and third quarter respectively. It was in Harmanpreet Singh's second attempt in the 56th minute that he converted a well-timed, powerful dragflick to equalise the score to 1-1. His previous attempt only a minute earlier was well-saved by Australian defender.Â
On Wednesday, India will take on the Australian National side in what promises to be yet another exciting game and if India wish to emerge on top.
