CHENNAI: HOSTS Accord Tamil Nadu Dragons rounded off their home leg with a thrilling shootout win against SG Pipers in the Hockey India League at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium here on Friday. In the shootout, the Pipers converted four of their five attempts, that too via penalty strokes after repeated fouls by the Dragons’ goalkeeper Prince Deep Singh. The Dragons still managed to secure a bonus point as they scored all five of their shots. Amit Rohidas (9'), Tom Craig (18'), Paul Philipp Kaufmann (17’), and Selvaraj Kanagaraj (40’) scored a goal each for the Dragons, while Tomas Domene (13', 18'), Ky Willott (38'), and Aditya Lalage (59') netted goals for the Pipers in regulation time.
Earlier in the day, Harmanpreet Singh notched up the stroke into the left past Bikramjit Singh to help JSW Soorma Hockey Club beat Hyderabad Toofans 3-1 in the penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw in regulation time. Harmanpreet led by example and once again showed that there is no substitute for experience. Both sides were error prone and failed to convert the opportunities they got and thus the game stretched into the shootout where Soorma HC held on to their nerves to earn their first points.
If errors ensured a 1-1 draw, the same crept into the shootout also to the dismay of both the teams. Toofans' Zachary Wallace, Arshdeep Singh and Rajinder Singh were denied by Vincent Vanasch. For Soorma, Victor Wegnez and Gurjant Singh were off their mark with their efforts.
The Toofans began the match in earnest with Wallace and Jacob Anderson trying to make inroads into the opposition den.
Anderson came close to scoring one but was rudely blocked by Della Torre Nicholas. For Soorma, Vivek Sagar Prasad and Harmanpreet tried to sound the board, but Bikramjit Singh's defence and presence of mind was too good for them.
The breakthrough came in the 20th minute when Pawan Rajbhar's skill sets in the circle got Soorma a corner, which Harmanpreet delivered in his inimitable style. Soorma nearly doubled its lead in the same minute as Jeetpal and Akashdeep Singh combined to win the ball back merely seconds after push back. Jeetpal got the final shot, which crept inches wide of the far post.
Soorma HC had another chance when Maninder won a penalty corner in the 38th minute, but Jeremy Hayward muffed it. Toofans' Lakra in the 46th minute brought the game back level with a drag-flick. Soorma won a penalty corner in the final minute but a review from Arthur De Sloover got the decision reversed and this led to the shootout.
