Hockey India League: Ranchi Rays Beat Leaders Punjab Warriors to Enter Semis

Ranchi Rays advanced to the semi-finals of the Hockey India League with a thrilling 3-2 win over the table-toppers Jaypee Punjab Warriors in Ranchi on Tuesday.

Jaypee Punjab Warriors conceded an early goal in the 13th minute and the second goal in the 45th minute leaving them trailing the game 2-0. The visitors finally made a come-back in the game by leveling the scores 2-2 in the fourth quarter, but wasting no time Ranchi Rays came back strongly and scored the third goal and went on to win the game. Both Ranchi Rays and Jaypee Punjab Warriors are locked at 29 points at the points table.

The first quarter produced frenetic action, with both the teams struggling to splinter the defence of the other team. Ranchi Rays seized an early initiative and opened the scoring in the thirteenth minute when the team earned a penalty corner. Ashley Jackson drag flicked and was saved by the Punjab goalie but Parvinder Singh scored on the rebound, helping his team take the early lead in the game. With 1-0 on the scoreboard, Ranchi Rays was leading at the end of first quarter.

Ranchi Rays took control of the proceedings for the major part of the first two quarters and made several forays into the Jaypee Punjab Warriors's half whose defense held firm. As both the teams played the game aggressively and kept the pressure alive, none of the team members were able to seize the opportunity and the score remained in favour of Ranchi Rays 1-0 at the end of first half.

With the change of ends, the game became more intense with Jaypee Punjab Warriors struggling for a much needed equalizer. Although, the two teams tried creating chances into each other's D, Jaypee Punjab Warriors managed a penalty corner opportunity but Bharat Chetri playing the replacement of Jaap Stockman in this match, saved for his team.

With the passing time, Ranchi Rays switched on its attacking mode as another beautiful piece of play was displayed by Ashley Jackson who successfully converted a penalty corner in the 45th minute and added another magnificent goal to his name.

While Ranchi Rays soaked up everything that was thrown at them, Jaypee Punjab Warriors finally made a comeback and showcased its better side by scoring two goals in three minutes. In search of opening their scorecard, Jaypee Punjab Warriors, Agustin Mazzilli surged ahead and sneaked past the goal post through a field effort and opened the score card for his team in 47th minute. This was followed by another beautiful field goal by Satbir Singh who made a monster strike for Jaypee Punjab Warriors in 49th minute, leveling the score to 2-2.

But this equalizer was short-lived as in the 51st minute Ranchi Rays struck their third goal, coming from the stick of Stanli Minz and taking the score to 3-2.