HIL: Wizards beat Waveriders to end losing streak

ArrayNew Delhi Uttar Pradesh Wizards bounced back from three consecutive defeats to beat Delhi Waveriders 64 and pocket five crucial points in the Coal India Hockey India League HIL at the Shivaji Hockey Stadium here on MondayFor Wizards VR Raghunath converted a penalty corner in the 19th minute to give them the 10 lead Chinglesana Singh 54th Jamie Dwyer 55th scored two field goals and Wouter Jolie converted a penalty corner in the 58th to make it six goals for the visitorsField goal is counted as two in this edition of the HIL and two quick goals dented Delhis chancesWaveriders found their goals from Justin ReidRoss 55th and Mandeep Singh 58th They will also have to blame their penalty corner experts who failed to score from as many as 10 chancesWith this win Wizards collected five points and but they still will be fifth with 12 points Jaypee Punjab Warriors also have 12 points but are ahead on goal differenceWhereas Delhi remained at the third spot with 17 points same as Kalinga Lancers but the Bhubaneswarbased outfit has a better goal differenceWizards coming off three backtoback defeats at home showed a lot of patience as Waveriders made an impressive startAfter a rough tackle in the fifth minute inside Wizards circle Rupinderrsquos flick lacked power and precision as PR Sreejesh put it away and later the Indian goalkeeper had to reach to his left and palm away a reversehand strike from Simon ChildTristian White misjudged the bounce after the first drop off a chip from the deep and it allowed Ramandeep Singh to make his sides first realistic attempt at the Delhi post However Ramandeep drove the ball straight at goalkeeper Devon Manchester much to the relief of the home campHowever Wizards continued to apply pressure and were rewarded with a penalty corner in the 20th minute VR Raghunath was right on the money to open the account of the visiting side from LucknowWizards threatened to make it 30 when Scot striker Kenny Bain received a thorough ball but with only the goalkeeper to beat he lifted the ball wideAt the death of the second quarter Delhi got four backtoback penalty corners but none of them yielded a goal as the two teams headed for the 10minute breatherAs soon as the third quarter began a onetwo buildup play between Australians Jamie Dwyer and Eddie Ockenden saw Wizards earn a penalty corner but they failed to capitalize on itDelhi gained momentum towards the close of the quarter but Wizards managed to fend off the challengeSreejesh once blocked a field strike from Child and later denied Justin ReidRossrsquo dragflick to keep the slender leadThe match reached its optimum level in the final quarter with Chinglensana making it 30 with a backhand strike and one minute later Australian veteran Dwyer silenced the halffilled Shivaji Stadium crowd with a reversehand screamer that made it 50The twin goals received a strong response from Delhi as ReidRoss scored a field goal which is counted as two in the tournamentIn a quick counterattack Wizards earned another penalty corner that was converted by Dutchman Jolie to make it 62Delhi refused to die as Mandeep Singh lifted the ball home as the hosts were now another field strike away from levelling things up But they were unable to do so and lost 46Waveriders can bounce back within 24 hours as they host Punjab Warriors on Tuesday