On song India beat Holland 3-2

Buenos Aires (Argentina), Dec 13 (PTI) Indian Captain
Diwakar Ram struck a brace as an energetic India exhibited
flair and fluency to beat Holland 3-2 in the Under-21 hockey
'Test' match at Club Ciudad de Buenos Aires here Saturday.

Diwakar scored with the dragflicks in the 17th and 51st
minutes while right winger Mandip Antil scored a field goal in
the 24th minute.

India were in total command of the proceedings with
dominant midfield play and ball possession as they rapidly
interchanged positions and baffled the Dutch with superb off
the ball moves. They led 2-0 at the lemon break.

Holland, who were at sea during most part of the match,
got both goals from penalty corners in the 43rd minute and at
the stroke of full time.

India brought in Belsajar Horo and Amardeep Ekka in the
central midfield replacing Vivek and Vikas Sharma. The hard
working Horo controlled his space with elan not only with his
accurate distribution but also timely interceptions to deny
Holland create sorties.

Manjeet Kullu and Birendra Lakra lent good support on the
lines keeping a tight man to man vigil. India repeatedly tore
past the Dutch defence as Danish Mujtaba, Jay Karan and Mandip
Antil engineered numerous attacks.

They should have taken an early lead but Jay Karan failed
to connect a sitter from winger Dharamvir Singh.

This was followed by Mujtaba's attempt, but he shot wide.

Diwakar opened the account for India from the first of
his three penalty corners with a low flick to the left of
goalkeeper Sam Van Der Ven.

India accelerated their pace with short accurate passes
catching their opponents on the wrong foot with dodges and
body feints.

It was only a matter of time before they increased their
tally as Horo received a pass from Diwakar to set up Antil.
The Sonepat lad made no mistake as he fired home from the top
of the semi-circle and thus scored his third goal of the tour.

Holland had an opportunity to reduce the margin before
the break but Mrinal Chaubey brought off a good save to foil a
penalty corner from Mink Van Der Weerden.

India conceded another penalty corner eight minutes into
the half when Diwakar's stick check was found illegal. This
time the Dutch found the mark as Martijn Havenga sank in off a
defenders deflection.

Unrattle by this reverse, India mounted pressure with
with superb overhead passes on the flanks. They cut through
into the circle with effortless ease but failed to score as
Dharamvir first hit the post and then Jay Karan lobbed over
the bar with only the custodian to beat Another opportunity
went abegging shortly after as Jagwant Singh shot out.

But the Indian skipper did not disappoint as he
forcefully beat Van Der Ven with a low flick to give India a
3-1 lead as they continued their grip on the game.

A consolation goal came for Holland eventually as India
gave away a soft penalty corner in the final minute.

The attempt by Van Der Weerden had enough sting and angle
to beat the India defence.

Coach AK Bansal expressed happiness at Saturday's result
and said "the boys played to their potential and hopefully
will show the same in the last game too".

India who are unbeaten on this tour will play their last
match against Argentina Sunday. PTI Cor
NIK