India lose 1-2 to Belgium in final encounter

Representational pictureIndia went down fighting to Belgium 12 in a thrilling final match of the first leg of the Four Nations Invitational tournament at the Blake Park here to Tom Boon 4th minute and Sebastien Dockier 36th found the target for Belgium while Mandeep Singh 19th was Indias lone goal scorer Belgium were quick to get off the block as they won a penalty corner within three minutes of the game but Loick Luypaerts drag flick was superbly rendered ineffective by Indias first runner Chinglensana KangujamAlmost immediately India had a great opportunity to score as a dribbling Dilpreet Singh made a beautiful turn at the top of the circle to dodge a Belgian defender He then sliced the ball across to Lalit Upadhyay who had positioned himself in front of the post but sadly he could not get a nudge on the ball Belgium meanwhile mounted pressure on India with a goal through Boon in the fourth minute With three seconds to go for the first hooter India won a penalty corner but Rupinder Pal Singhs fierce hit to the right bottom of the post was saved by a Belgian defender at the baselineIndia overcame a slow start in the second quarter as they gained momentum creating potential circle penetrations It was in the 19th minute when defender Rupinder Pal Singh intercepted a Belgian long pass to find Manpreet in the midfield who then sliced the ball into the center of the circle Mandeep Singh was quick to react beating goalkeeperVincent Vanasch to push the ball into the post fetching India the equaliserThe next few minutes saw India work hard to keep the ball but a structured Belgian defence was tough to break Meanwhile Sreejesh made an excellent save in the 21st minute when Thomas Briels took a shot on goal ensuring both teams went into the halftime break in a stalemate It was advantage Belgium as they scored at the start ofthe third quarter when Gauthier Boccard used a powerful reverse hit from the top of the striking circle Sreejesh made a fine save but Sebastien Dockier was quick to pick up the rebound as he found the gap and smashed the ball past the India goalkeeperThough Belgium won three backtoback penalty corners towards the end of the third quarter Manpreet Singh was unrelenting as the first runner to ensure no goal was scored India bounced back in the final quarter increasing their attack finding gaps in the 15 yard mark putting pressure on the Belgian defence But their experienced goal keeper Vincent Vanasch made some important saves to keep India at bayLast five minutes saw Indias chief coach Sjoerd Marijne pull out their goalkeeper to add an extra man to their attack The effort worked with India winning a penalty corner in the dying minutes of the match but Harmanpreets attempt was well defended by the Belgians We were much better than our previous match against Belgium Our young players are making good progress against a world class team like Belgium which we will benefit from in the future For now though even a draw would have been a better result but the Belgium goalkeeper did some good work and made crucial saves said MarijneOn January 24 India will take on hosts New Zealand in the first match of the second leg in the Four Nations Invitational tournamentCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates hereDownload the new midday Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the go