HIL 2016 – Ranchi stage a comeback win and go to top of the table
Kalinga and Rachi were two of the four teams who were tied at 11 points at the top of the table when this game began, and both came into this game on a run of two consecutive wins. The match lived up to the billing as both the teams produced a thriller in Ranchi. The home side showed tremendous grit and character to comeback, after conceding the lead, and win the game 3-2 in the final quarter.
Kalinga Lancers took the lead in the third minute of the third quarter. Lalit Upadhyay flicked in a dangerous ball from the left wing, which took an awkward deflection off the stick of a Ranchi defender, before hitting the frame of the goal. Malak Singh was at hand though, to turn the ball into the net and give Kalinga a 2-0 lead.
Ranchi pulled one back in the ninth minute of the third quarter, when Ashley Jackson scored from a penalty corner. Andrew Charter, who was brilliant for Kalinga up till that point in the match, would have been disappointed at allowing the ball into the net, even though he got a leg to it.
The goal lifted the home crowd, and the momentum of the game changed completely. Ranchi took the lead for the first time in the game in the third minute of the fourth quarter, when Timothy Deavin scored his first field goal of this season.
Kalinga gave the ball away to Daniel Beale in their own defensive third, and the Australian midfielder ran into the circle, before unleashing a powerful flick on goal. Charter managed to keep it out, partially, but Deavin was first to the rebound, as he divided in with his stick, to poke the ball into the net. The goalkeeper should have done better with the first save. The goal put Ranchi 3-2 ahead in the game.
Kalinga threw everything they had at Ranchi, in the final few minutes of the game, and eventually, they earned a penalty corner in the 12th of the fourth quarter. But instead of taking a shot directly from the penalty corner, they took the ball outside of the circle and tried to carve out an opening in order to score a field goal. Their ploy failed though, and Ranchi held on to their slim lead to win the match and take a sole lead at the top of the HIL table.
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