The Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers won all of the three points on offer, beating Delhi SG Pipers 1-0 at the Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium here. The side’s first win in the Women’s Hockey India League must be the best birthday gift its skipper Udita Duhan received on Tuesday.
The Tigers began with gusto as Kathryn Mullan almost ended up threading an assist to Beauty Dung Dung only four minutes into the game. In the dying moments of the first quarter, Mullan again swung just wide of Priyanka Wankhede inside the circle.
A tactical change from coach Glenn Turner in the following quarter saw Mullan switch over to the left flank. And in the 23rd minute, the Irishwoman decided to take matters into her own hands. Having assumed control of a through ball, she chipped it over the goalkeeper, who had stepped out of line.
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The Pipers kept mounting attacks, but Udita, prowling deep inside the Tigers’ final third, averted danger. Two minutes into the closing half, Navneet Kaur came within inches of equalising, but her shot caught Jennifer Rizzo’s kickers and clattered into the bar.
The Pipers won five penalty corners but failed to convert. Deepika, who had scored 11 goals in India’s victorious Asian Champions Trophy campaign, may have come the closest to opening the account when her drag-flick off Emma Puvrez’s injection thudded into the leg-guard of Grace O’Hanlon, the renowned Black Sticks stopper.
The Tigers would have liked to extend their lead, and they did look menacing on the counter-attack, but a slew of orange shirts near the ‘D’ ensured that didn’t happen. Not that it lessened the Pipers’ embarrassment, as they are yet to find the back of the net even after playing eight quarters in this competition.
The result: Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers 1 (Mullan 23) bt Delhi SG Pipers 0.