Hockey, FIH Pro League: Harmanpreet’s men push World No 1 Netherlands, a 1-2 defeat will sting

“First match after so long, we did a great job for the first three quarters,” Harmanpreet said after the match. “But you have to be perfect throughout, till the last minute, we need to keep in mind that defence is our first priority, so we need to improve our structure. With the ball, we are forcing it too much, we need to play with more control.”

In the first couple of minutes, India kept the ball well, like coach Craig Fulton hoped to see. A long ball into the circle by Jarmanpreet Singh was beautifully killed-dead by Dilpreet Singh under defensive pressure and it required an expert last-ditch tackle from Jip Janssen to ensure the Indian forward didn’t get his shot away.

India missed a massive chance to go ahead in the 9th minute. High press from Shilanand Lakra and Dilpreet saw the visitors win the ball back in the Dutch circle, and from a one-on-one situation, Dilpreet couldn’t get past a diving Maurits Visser and the Indian let out a cry of anguish. To India’s credit, they controlled the middle of the park for a majority of the opening quarter, whether there was a press on or not. But for all the good work, Q1 finished goalless.

Q2 was off to a much more open start with great chances for both teams. Floris Middendorp set up Steijn van Heijningen with a sharp pass into the circle that broke the Indian marking but Suraj Karkera was able to pull off a save. India had a chance down the other end too shortly after as Jarmanpreet made his way into the circle from down the right flank, collecting a wonder-pass from deep defence by Harmanpreet but Wisser was equal to the task once more.

The breakthrough eventually came from an expected source for India. Dilpreet won the match’s first penalty corner and up stepped the captain. With a low inside-out flick of sheer power, Wisser was beaten to his left by Harmanpreet’s drag flick.

A silly mistake from Sanjay in defence opened the door for the Dutch as they won their first PC of the match with five minutes to go in the half. But Suraj was up for the task to keep Janssen’s shot away and the retake broke down from the injection. Another mistake shortly after, however, proved costly. Harmanpreet played himself into trouble just outside India’s circle, getting caught in possession by van Heijningen, who fed van Dam. The No 7 cut inside, slipped but still managed to get the shot away while losing his balance. India lost their lead, and their one video review also to go with it.

“It’s a soft goal to concede, it’s Holland, if you make a mistake they will punish you,” Fulton said at half time. Both coaches spoke about making better decisions on the ball in the opponents’ half as an area to improve.

The Dutch pressure was starting to increase as van Dam found himself in space a few yards outside India’s goal but he was tackled as he tried to turn the defender. India’s attacking attempts were now starting to get limited to throwing hopeful long aerial balls into the circle.

And then, with less than three minutes to go, came the telling blow. This wasn’t necessarily off an Indian mistake but they invited too much pressure on their defence and with the quality that the Dutch possess, that was a recipe for defeat. Van Dam came up with a moment of magic, collecting a deflected ball into the circle, and from an upright position slammed a stunning reverse-hit finish past Suraj. Sometimes a magic moment is all it takes to win.