Hyderabad Toofans became the first team to qualify for the semifinals of the Hockey India League (HIL) standings after a thrilling 2-1 win over UP Rudras in a Pool B encounter here at the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium on Saturday.
It was an end-to-end affair which went Toofans’ way after two clinical finishes in the opening half. The victory took Toofans to the top of the standings and into the last four, while Rudras slipped to third.
From the pushback, everytime Rudras drove forward into the circle, Toofans did well to regroup its defence and make it difficult for the former’s attackers to get a clear shot on goal. Early in the first quarter, the ball broke to Akashdeep Singh near the face of the goal but Bikramjit Singh stood his ground to block his effort.
At the other end, a long ball nearly undid Rudras but Maico Casella inadvertently got in the way of the goalbound shot. But Casella made up for it to win a penalty corner which pleased head coach Pasha Gademan, who was punching the air in celebration. His ace drag-flicker Gonzalo Peillat gave him more reasons to relish when the German’s forceful hit got past the man on the line and into the roof of the net.
A defensive lapse near the edge of the circle from Sharda Nand Tiwari cost Rudras dearly when Arshdeep Singh robbed him off the ball and turned goalside. In a superb piece of centre-forward play, Arshdeep neatly evaded the onrushing Floris Wortelboer before applying a low tomahawk finish to double the lead.
It was a frantic start to the second half with both teams getting a flurry of penalty corners but neither Sam Ward (Rudras) nor Peillat made the most of the opportunities.
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Casella was lively up front as the Spaniard made a driving run, dribbling past two defenders into the circle but his sliding shot while off balance, narrowly went wide of the goal.
Rudras received a lifeline via Jobanpreet Singh, who picked up a loose ball from a penalty corner and thumped a finish on the half-volley.
Toofans regrouped from it and held on for the next 20 minutes, which also saw an acrobatic one-handed save from Dominic Dixon of a Tanguy Cosyns drag-flick. Toofans then added a third on the counter through Arshdeep to bag the three points on offer.
Result:
Hyderabad Toofans 3 (Gonzalo Peillat 25’, Arshdeep Singh 28’, 60’) bt UP Rudras 1 (Jobanpreet Singh 40’)