HIL: Waveriders fight back to hold Lancers

BHUBANESWAR: Having lost six of their seven matches in the third edition of the Hockey India League, not many had expected Kalinga Lancers to give any fight to defending champions Delhi Waveriders at Kalinga Stadium on Thursday.
But the Jude Felix-coached side shocked its critics and came agonizingly close to producing one of the biggest upsets of the tournament.
They led for 58 minutes against the Sardar Singh-led side but conceded with one minute left on the clock as the match ended 2-2.Even though they failed to win, Lancers were brilliant on the field.
They defended well, their midfield worked like a well-oiled machine and their strikers always kept the Waveriders defenders on alert. They took the lead three minutes into the game when Lucas Vila opened the scoring and Vikas Sharma doubled it five minutes into the second quarter.
Andrew Hayward helped Waveriders reduce the lead and eventually Talwainder Singh scored the equalizer in the 59th minute.
Earlier, Waveriders went into attack straightaway but Yuvaj Walmiki's shot was brilliantly blocked by Australian Andrew Charter and then Vila gave Lancers in the lead.
The Argentine trapped the ball in the middle of the D and with two defenders behind his back, he slammed it into the net past Waveriders goalkeeper Nicolas Jacobi.
Following that Waveriders upped the tempo but Lancers, who had let in 22 goals before this match, defended brilliantly.
Dipsan Tirkey, in particular, stood like a rock and gave no room to Simon Child and Jason Wilson. Not only the defenders, even Charter was having a good day in front of the net and was excellent in keeping out Akashdeep Singh's shot late in the first quarter.