India 'A' Women’s Hockey Team defeat France 'A' Women's team 2-0 in fourth match

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh), 13 February 2019: The India 'A' Women's Hockey team defeated France 'A' Women's team 2-0 in the fourth and last match here at the Padma Shri Mohammad Shahid Synthetic Hockey Stadium on Wednesday to register their third straight win. Youngsters Jyoti (26') and Gagandeep Kaur (32') scored two quick goals to wrap up a comfortable win for the hosts. Earlier, it was the French side who had won the first match 1-0, but India 'A' won the last three matches 3-2, 2-0 and 2-0 to make a solid comeback.

In the last of the four matches, India 'A' Women's team produced a stunning display of attacking hockey in the first two quarters, and were rewarded in the 26th minute when 19-year-old Jyoti found herself at end of a brilliant team-move, the Forward placing the ball into the back of the net to give her team the advantage. With the first quarter ending without a goal and the French team putting pressure on the hosts, India's goal in the 26th minute against the run-of-play, calmed a few nerves down as the team went into the half-time break with an important 1-0 lead.

Coach Baljeet Singh's half-time talk certainly motivated the players as they dominated in the opening few minutes of the third quarter as well. The hosts were awarded a Penalty Corner as a result, and it was 19-year-old Gagandeep Kaur who stepped up to increase India's lead to 2-0 in the 32nd minute. The hosts were also rewarded for keeping a solid structure and defending their lines well throughout the last two quarters. The French had some chances in the matches, but could not find the opening that they required to make a come-back into the match. As a result, it was India 'A' Women's team who kept their lead intact and registered a 2-0 victory in the fourth and last match.