Pillay8217;s winner helps Indians capture title

The match between the Asian and European champions was hailed as the best exhibition of entertaining hockey ever witnessed in the Western Australian capital. Yet, the manner in which the game began 8212; especially for India 8212; would not have indicated such a classic finish.

Their game riddled by mistakes in defence, misunderstanding and mispassing, the Indians were fortunate to been on an even keel 1-1 with the Germans when the team went into the break.

Had it not been for Indian goalkeeper Jude Menezes8217; brilliant saves in the first half, the scoreline would have been vastly different in favour of the Germans. With five minutes to go for half time, Jagan Senthil seized on an inaccurate back pass and fed Pillay whose powerful reverse hit sounded the boards 1-1.

Stunned by this reversal of fortune, the Germans came back in the second half determined to move forward and not pass the ball backwards as they were doing in the first half. This almost pre-determined forward movement of the Germans, played straight into hands of the Indian game plan.

It provided the Indian forwards more space to run their counter attacks through, which ultimately was the reason for the German downfall today. As it is, Germany took the lead in the 20th minute through a field goal by Mathias Witthaun who finally beat Jude Menezes in the Indian goal.

The German insistence on attack not only did India a favour, but also opened up the game and contributed to a lively pace right through the second half. This Indian team is now notorious among its opponents for its counter attacks carried out with almost commando-like precision and pace.

It was one such attack which led to India8217;s penalty corner in the 22nd minute of the second half. Dilip Tirkey8217;s conversion was neat and accurate 2-1.

Now on the backfoot, the Germans moved headlong into attack, forcing two penalty corners with no success. When Bjorn Michel drew level for Germany with two minutes remaining, the game seemed destined to go into extra time and the Golden Goal.

However, the Mumbai bombshell Pillay had other ideas. A quick break from within the Indian half saw Pillay, Baljit Dhillon and Samir Dad pounce on an under-manned German defence with the exchanges resulting in Pillay scoring his second to give India victory.

It was a moment to cherish, with Ramandeep giving his victory speech in Punjabi in gratitude to the huge number of Indian supporters turned out here today. Ramandeep acknowledged the fact that the team felt quite at home with the warm sunshine, the constant beating of the drums by Indian supporters, the waving Indian flags and frequent chants of quot;Balle8230;Ballequot;.

It was as if the entire Indian community had turned out to support the team and it was well worth the effort. UNI