We were in the lead twice and should have closed out the game by keepingpossession and crowding the defence and slowing the tempo. Both coachesadvocating that their teams are going for the gold and knew how importantthis game was in terms of their plans. In their own words both felt ``thatthe match would hinge on which team would dominate the midfield. There wouldbe no favours given and each player would really fight for his team'sdominance in every quarter of the field''. HIGHLIGHTS AND THRILLS: It was avisual delight and probably the best match of the tournament so far. Thegame was played at a furious pace with both sides not giving an inch as they fought it out to control the midfield Both defence with their cleananticipation, interceptions and tackling have had to work overtime today.Credit to the Aussie defence for keeping the rampaging Baljit Dhillon,Mukesh Kumar and Dhanraj Pillay at bay and ours for being able to block outthe likes of Micheal Brennan, Troy Elder, Jay Stacy and Steven Davies. Thecommitment and zest to score by both teams was superb to watch. The greatgoal line save by Dilip Tirkey which could have turned the tide in theirfavour, when Jude was out of position. Stephen Davies' try that flew overthe top.STATISTICS:Quite even shots at goal India-11, Australia-12 Penalty corners India-3,Australia-5 Saves by goalkeeper India-7, Australia-8.Let us talk about the goals. India took lead in the very first minute. Indiadid what the Aussies normally do to the rest of the world aggression fromthe first pushback. Well, here we gave them a taste of their own medicine asPillay stole the ball and carrying it at his characteristic lightning speedwove into the circle dribbling past Holt and passed to Mukesh who with anArgentinean hit crashed the ball past a helpless Delliti. Brilliant hockeyall-round especially with the clinical finish.Australia equalised in the fourth minute from the second penalty cornerthrough a direct Jay Stacy hit. The sheer pace of the shot beat ourgoalkeeper Jude Menezes who had another good showing today. Stacy it must bementioned is one of the hardest and most effective penalty corner strikersin the world today.India snatched lead again in the 25th minute via the third penalty corner(the first two being muffed). Baljit Dhillon drag flicks the ball to theright of Delletti to score. A powerful accurate flick that beat a worldclass goalkeeper.The Kangaroos struck back levelling again in the 51st minute when Stacy wasfortunate to pick up the ball as a helpless Ramandeep slipped and fell.Stacy looked up watched the gap and let fly a super cross ball right pastour defenders who I must say here are guilty of ball watching. The ball cameto Craig Victory who slammed it home in a trice to level the scores.CRITICAL FACTORS THAT NEED IMMEDIATE RECTIFICATION:Too much carrying of the ball must make more use of `give and go'.Excessive dribbling, pulls up the supporting players and when possessionlost, there is a danger of facing a furious counterattack. Still too muchspace given when we have to face players that are faster off the blockswe cannot give them room, we should be as close as possible. Whilstswitching the game or rotating the ball, we must do much faster and notpermit them to regroup. Once we have dispossessed a player we must not allowhim to undertake his defensive duties. A little more re-tackling.As always, you are almost there now the semi-finals are within reach, stayfocused all the best(The author is a National hockey selector and former coach)
