ENGLAND 3 (2) v INDIA 4 (1)

University of Birmingham, England, Friday, 31 July 2009

Hockey fans witnessed that cliché of clichés, a game of two halves, at the University of Birmingham this evening as England surrendered a two goal lead to go down 4-3 to India in the second of their three test match series.

Beijing Olympians Ashley Jackson and Jonty Clarke had given England a comfortable lead with just ten minutes of the first half remaining but India fought back with a combination of speed and skill to shock their hosts and send a large Indian support home happy.

England made five changes from the team that won 3-1 on Wednesday night, including handing former Birmingham University student Richard Lane his senior international debut, and it was one of those changes, Simon Egerton, who threatened first as he broke through the middle to unleash a good shot which goalkeeper Adrian D’Souza saved well high to his right.

On eight minutes India had what would be a rare first half opportunity but Tushar Khandekar failed to control Sunil’s powerful cross to the back post.

As on Wednesday, the match featured a number of penalty corners with England awarded six in the first period; Reading’s Iain Mackay forcing the Indian goalkeeper into a save from the second.

On 14 minutes Ashley Jackson let off a fierce effort from England’s third corner that fizzed past the post and as the hosts stepped up the pressure he came even closer to opening the scoring four minutes later when a high flick from the top of the circle beat the onrushing defence but not the crossbar, which separated Jackson from his 12th England goal by just an inch.

It was not long before he did net the opener though. As if the previous two efforts had been sighters, Jackson got it spot on in the 22nd minute as his powerful flick from the set piece finally beat Adrian D’Souza and found the back of the net to give England the lead. And it was a lead they could have doubled a moment later when James Tindall and Simon Egerton combined well down the left hand side before Tindall teed up Egerton to tap home. Somehow though, the Bowdon man failed to hit the target as he pushed his shot wide of the far post to groans from the terraces.

The fans did not have to wait long to cheer a second England goal as it came just four minutes after Jackson’s opener. Matt Daly’s shot from the top of the circle was well saved by D’Souza low to his left but before a defender could react Jonty Clarke did brilliantly to throw himself full length to knock home the loose ball.

A minute later Daly narrowly failed to connect with a Tindall cross and England were threatening to roll the Indians over as they dominated possession and created several goal scoring opportunities.

At the other end James Fair was called into action for the first time with just fewer than five first half minutes remaining as India attacked the English circle for the first time in fully 20 minutes but the Cannock goalkeeper was on hand to block two efforts at close range in a crowded D.

The India fans were vocal in their disappointment when the umpires failed to agree on a possible Indian penalty corner late in the half but they were cheering for very different reasons in the 35th minute when the second of two consecutive penalty corners was awarded and Arjun Halappa fired a low flick into the bottom right corner to halve the deficit.

India returned for the second half with renewed vigour and they turned the game on its head with two goals in quick succession. From their third penalty corner of the game Dhananjay Mahadik netted what would have previously been considered an unlikely equaliser with a good flick beyond James Fair’s right glove and when a free flowing move down the left hand side set up Rajpal Singh to knock home at the back post India celebrated ecstatically.

England responded with another two penalty corners but Ashley Jackson’s efforts were thwarted by some good defending and an excellent stick save from D’Souza. England pressed on in search of the equaliser but India were beginning to show some of their traditional flair, attacking on the counter at pace and with superb close control.

With the match entering its final ten minutes Rajpal Singh had an opportunity to kill off the game but a flowing move involving Gurvinder Chandi and Tushar Khandekar ended with Singh mis-trapping along the baseline. Confidence was clearly flowing through the Indian side though and when Gurvinder Chandi entered the circle from the left hand side with the ball bouncing in front of him it was almost inevitable that his wonderful reverse stick volley would go in off the far post to give his side a 4-2 lead with just five minutes remaining.

Despite the frustration of losing a fourth, England continued to push and Jackson netted his second corner of the game with just two minutes remaining to set up a cliff hanger finish. Unfortunately for Jackson and his teammates, the English comeback failed to materialise with the Indian fans in great voice as the final hooter sounded.

Speaking after the match, India’s outstanding goalkeeper Adrian D’Souza said: “It feels good to have leveled the series tonight and to make the saves I did against a side with the quality that England has was great.”

India’s Spanish coach Jose Brasa refused to get carried away with the comeback and put the result down to renewed confidence in his team. “We’re not worried about the result tonight. We haven’t come here to win, we’ve come to learn. They are trying new things that they are not used to. In the second half, we gave the players more confidence to play how they know.”

England coach Jason Lee, who will announce his squad for the EuroHockey Nations Championships early next week, blamed missed opportunities for his side’s defeat: “At 2-0 up we were playing well but the sign of a good team is to put the game away in that position. We had several good opportunities to go 3-0 up but we didn’t take them and we really lost the game in about the 28th minute when we could have put it to bed. In the second half we were lethargic and lackadaisical and India came back well.”

Teams:

ENGLAND: Richard Alexander; Ashley Jackson; Matt Daly; Adam Dixon; James Fair (G/K); Ben Hawes; Glenn Kirkham (Capt); Richard Mantell; Simon Mantell; Simon Egerton; Richard Smith. Substitutes: Jonty Clarke (5); Adam Harper (9); Richard Lane (13); Iain Mackay (4); James Tindall (4).

INDIA: Adrian D'Souza (G/K); Prabhodh Tirkey; Sardar Singh; Gurwinder Chandi; Birender Lakra; Gurbaj Singh; Rajpal Singh; Bimal Lakra; Sunil S.V.; Dhananjay Mahadhik; Vikram Pillay. Substitutes: Arjun Halappa (7); Tushar Khandkar (6); Vinaya V.S. (10); Hari Prasad (8); Ajitesh Roy (Capt) (7).

UMPIRES: Dan Barstow & Dave Dowdall

Goal Scorers:

ENGLAND: Ashely Jackson 22, 69 (PC, PC);Jonty Clarke 26 (F)

INDIA: Arjun Halappa 35 (PC); Dhananjay Mahadik 41 (PC); Rajpal Singh 43 (F); Gurvinder Chandi 69 (F)

For Official Result Sheets for the 3 England v India Matches click here