The Netherlands made most of the opportunities in the opening leg of Europe in the FIH Hockey Pro League match on Saturday to come from behind to win 2-1 in Amsterdam
There is intense competition among leading hockey playing nations. It’s all about opportunities and making most of the situation. On Saturday, in the opening leg of FIH Hockey Pro League in Amsterdam, Netherlands came from behind to score 2-1 win over India and walk away with three points.
Some silly mistakes on the part of the Indian team denied them full three points despite leading in the 19th minute through penalty corner (Harmanpreet Singh).
Quick thinking and rule infringement inside the circle can certainly change fate of the match.
The message was clear from the word go: Make no mistakes. Global hockey is highly competitive when it comes to leading hockey playing nations. A slight error can cost the teams dearly.
The Dutch side too made mistakes. Failed to convert three penalty corners. But that was compensated by two brilliant field goals through Thijs Van Dam.
Individual brilliance was visible on the Indian side too. Harmanpreet made no mistake in converting penalty corner in the 19th minutes to give India upper hand.
Indian side pressed hard in the last quarter, but fell short of target to level the score.
In the post-match interview to FIH website, the Indian skipper Harmanpreet Singh was candid in saying, we have to improve. “Defence has to be good,” Singh added.
Indian team coach Craig Fulton said during the break that his team shouldn’t make silly mistakes in the second half. “The team should have more possession in the opponent half,” Fulton added.
The player of the match was awarded to the Netherlands Floris Middendorp. He told FIH website: “It was an exciting game.”
