Indian Junior Men Hockey Team goes down fighting 0-2 to Great Britain

Johor Bahru, Malaysia, 13 October 2014: Giving a hard time to Great Britain, the Indian Junior Men Hockey Team went down fighting 0-2 in the second match of the 4th Sultan of Johor Cup, played today at Taman Daya Hockey Stadium in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

The first half of the game saw both the teams making desperate efforts and giving each other a tough fight to score the opening goal of the match. Although both the teams made several attempts to put the ball in the net, the first goal came in as late as in the 28th minute of the match from the stick of Benjamin James Boon of Great Britain.

Trailing by a goal, the Indian men came out attacking in the second half and tried to prevent the development of the rivals but could not keep pace with the opponent team and it was in the 50th minute of the game that Samuel French of Great Britain managed to encash the goal opportunity and stroke a field goal taking the score to 2-0 and doubling the lead for Great Britain.

The Indian men kept up the fight till the last minute of the match but eventually lost to Great Britain 0-2.

Commenting on the match, Coach Mr. Harendra Singh said, “The boys played well but failed to create opportunities that could be converted into goals. We need to work on our finishing as well as penalty corners. Nevertheless, the loss will not demoralize the team and we are looking forward to taking on Pakistan in the next game. I am sure the boys will make a come-back and put up a remarkable show with decent results in the upcoming matches.”

India is now scheduled to play Pakistan on 15 October 2014 at 15:35hrs IST and the match will be telecasted live on Star Sports 1.