Taking on the Great Britain side for the second time in as many days, the Indian women’s hockey team displayed some much-needed signs of improvement on the field, at Marlow, today.
As the third game of their ongoing tour got underway, the Blueskirts were visibly intent on making amends for Thursday’s 6-0 drubbing by the home team.
Throughout a closely contested 1st quarter, they closed down on the opponents’ attacking moves and strode forward to find a breakthrough but were unsuccessful. Evenly poised at 0-0 as the second quarter started, India struggled to find possession which soon led to a British onslaught on their defence.
Clifton midfielder Joie Leigh found the net to open the scoring in the 16th minute, followed by previous day’s goalscorer Crista Cullen doubling the lead in the 18th minute to take Great Britan 2-0 ahead at half-time.
In the second half, the Indians gave nothing away as they continued to put pressure around the opponent’s circle in their bid to avoid suffering a third consecutive defeat on the trot. Eventually, it was Deep Grace Ekka’s deft conversion from a penalty-corner in the 44th minute that raised hopes of a late comeback by the Indian side.
The final fifteen minutes saw the two sides matching each other for every move until the referee’s whistle was blown to signal the end of the match. Finishing 2-1 in favour of the home team, it was a contest that showed the Indians putting up a commendable effort, after a disappointing start to their preparatory tour of England.
