HIL 2016: Punjab Warriors heap more misery on Dabang Mumbai
Punjab Warriors bounced back from their defeat against Delhi Waveriders, with a convincing 3-1 win over Dabang Mumbai at Mohali on Sunday. Stat of the day: Mumbai have now lost 26 of the 34 matches they have played since the start of the Hockey India League in 2013.
Both the teams made a cautious start to the first quarter, with Punjab marginally edging Mumbai in possession. Punjab and Mumbai were struggling to find their rhythm, and the visitors were dropping deep into their own half to make it very difficult for Punjab to breakthrough. In fact, Punjab were at times forced to resort to long aerial balls in order to create chances in attack.
Finally in the 9th minute, Punjab put together a flowing move, which resulted in the first goal of the game. Mark Knowles brought the ball out of defence and played a long cross-field pass towards Matt Gohdes. Mumbai defender Harmanpreet Singh had the opportunity to intercept the pass, but a miss-trap from the Indian allowed the ball to reach the Australian midfielder.
Gohdes played a delightful through-ball, in behind the defence, to put Armaan Qureshi through on goal, and the youngster showed calmness beyond his years to put the ball past David Harte, to give the home side a 2-0 lead.
In the second quarter, Punjab extended their lead in the 21st minute, and deservedly so, after dominating the play on the pitch. Mumbai defender Vikas Sharma conceded a penalty corner. Christopher Ciriello drilled his drag flick into the top corner of the net, to make it 3-0 to the home side.
Punjab were good value for the lead, having made more than double the circle penetrations Mumbai managed in the first half. They also dominated the possession 67%-33%.
Mumbai received a lifeline in the third quarter, when Harmanpreet Singh partially made up for his earlier mistake by scoring from a penalty corner, in the 28th minute, to make it 1-3. Just a minute later, the visitors received another penalty corner, but this time, Tristan Clemons made a world class save, with a full-length dive to his right.