Indian men's hockey team holds England to 1-1 draw

The Indian mens hockey team came up with a spirited performance to hold England 11 in their third match at the ongoing 100th Anniversary Spanish Hockey Federation International Tournament here on FridayWhile Sam Ward scored an early goal for England in the fifth minute India bounced back to level the scores in the 29th minute through Harmanpreet SinghThe draw meant India are out of contention for the final on SundayAfter losing to the hosts and drawing with the Netherlands in their previous matches India were looking for an elusive win and a spot in the finalDespite their positive body language on the field it was the Brits who got off to a good start with Ward scoring a stunning field goalA tumbling James Oates crossed the ball from the right flank towards the goalpost which Ward deflected into the post giving England the leadPawan who was filling in for PR Sreejesh and Krishan Bahadur Pathak in the goalpost could do little to defendDespite the early setback India showed tenacity in the following minutes defending admirably to save two consecutive penalty corners Meanwhile the Indian forwardline continued their attack earning a welldeserved penalty corner in the 12th minuteUnfortunately for Indian skipper Harmanpreet the umpire disallowed his goal for dangerous playWith England leading by a goal India came out with a new burst of attack in the early minutes of the second quarter led by vice captain Hardik Singh whose stickwork gave Indian fans hope for a goalHowever a goalmouth scramble ensured that England maintained their leadIt took India a lot of effort to break through the English defence and it wasnt until the 29th minute that India were able to level the score It was Harmanpreet yet again leading the charge as he broke no sweat in converting a brilliant penalty cornerA goal just before the 10minute halftime break meant that the two teams would return with strategies that would promise exciting 30 minutes of play With a spot in the final at stake both teams lived up to the billing with their brilliant attacking tactics that kept the spectators gluedHaving shaken off the early nervousness young India goalie Pawan who replaced Sreejesh in the third quarter came up with a fine save in the 35th minute when England earned a penalty cornerAlso Read Hockey India name 18member squad for Asian Champions Trophy starting August 3India too found a couple of chances in the following minutes But they could not manage to put it past Englands custodian James MazareloWith the score reading 11 the final quarter remained tense for IndiaDesperate to find a breakthrough India came up with a disciplined attacking structure while Sreejesh produced some incredible saves to keep the scoreline intactIndia found a golden opportunity to score in the dying minutes when they won a PCThis was after the team had pulled their goalkeeper out for the want of an extra man in their attack The tactic worked but India could not convert from the PC with Mazarelo making a fine save with his footThat ended Indias hope of progressing to the final in Terassa BarcelonaThe team will next play the placing match against the losing team of the next league match Spain versus Netherlands before heading back homeThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever