Bengaluru: Sher-e-Punjab ripped apart Karnataka Lions for a thumping 4-1 victory in the first semifinal of the Bridgestone World Series Hockey here at KSHA Stadium on Sunday.
The opportunist Shers, exemplified and epitomized by the livewire Prabhjot Singh, dominated the encounter entirely and then tactfully did not cede penalty corner advantage to the Lions for Len Aiyappa to do any damage, majestically entering Monday’s final in Mumbai.
Prabhjot Singh, despite seeing his lightening goal not surviving a referral, and then witnessed team-mate Mathew Hotchkis miss out the stroke he fetched, came on his own three minutes before the whistle to post perhaps the best goal of the tournament. The fourth goal, the manner in which it was conceived and the geometrical precision with which Prabhjot gave the finishing touch to it despite falling, provided enough proof of the Shers’ determination to win the match.
The Lions failed to fetch penalty corners for Aiyappa, a sore point for the vocal crowd, and the absence of injured Ravi Pal Singh seemed to cost the Lions heavily.
Braving an early setback, Shers came up with quick counter attacks and struck a goal apiece through the sticks of Mathew Hotchkis, Karamjit Singh, Harpreet Singh and Prabhjot Singh. Earlier, the visitors had difficulty in clearing the ball which got tucked in the left flag area. Innocent Kullu intercepted a trickling ball, sent a diagonal hit into the circle, where in the middle custodian Gurpreet Singh took it on the body but could not control the rebound, a high ball that ballooned and veered towards the right baseline but the ever-alert Naveen Kumar, standing on the right close to the cage, guided the high ball into the net. This was the moment the crowd was waiting for, and broke into a joyous celebration.
This goal actually spurred the wounded Shers. They clawed back into the match and launched their goal hunt with torrential force. Deepak Thakur and Mathew Hotchkis, propped up by excellent supply from Prabhdeep Singh and Harpreet Singh troubled the Lions relentlessly. They forced the shaky Lions to concede two quick short corners but VS Vinaya failed to give it a proper finish.
Deepak Thakur deflected the ball on the right leg of Adnan Maqsood to fetch an easy penalty corner, the third, when a few seconds were left for the first quarter. Shers went for a direct attempt and Harpreet Singh unleashed a low flick only to be blocked by Devesh Chauhan but Hotchkis scooped the rebound to bring parity.
Gagan Ajit came close to strike a few seconds left on the clock for the lemon time. Prabhjot Singh put him on the right flank and Gagan surged into the circle, but on colliding with Devesh Chuhan he fumbled with his shot despite being presented with open chance.
Karamjit Singh, on the other hand, made use of a freak pass to find the eluding lead. Even as the entire defence was targeting marking him, the energetic colt with an eagle eye salvaged a normal looking pass, dived full in front of the charging Devesh Chauhan to place the ball into the right corner. The second goal silenced the roaring Lions supporters.
Just substituted Prabhjot Singh whacked a forehand, leaving three defenders to his off side, but the goal could not survive a referral, and was turned down due to an infringement.
At this juncture, both teams lost their nerves; Lions missing out a penalty corner on Arjun Antils’ poor push and then Matthew Hotchkis pushing a god-send stroke straight into the middle of the net and saw Devesh Chauhan blocking it to a thunderous response from the crowd.
However, Prabhjot Singh had other ideas and produced the best goal for the final moment, to book his team’s flight to Mumbai for the grand final.
WSH Final to be held at MHA Mahindra Stadium at 9pm.
