With Wednesday's win at the Sector 42 stadium, Steelers are on five points from four matches and so are Hyderabad Sultans, Sher-e-Jallandhar and Bangalore Hi-Fliers, but from three encounters. Veerans have no points and have a tough task ahead. Maratha Warriors are on top with seven points, while Chandigarh Dynamos have six points.
Till the time Steelers scored the first goal in the 26th minute, the Veerans looked rather competitive and had a fair share of possession. The trouble lay in the fact that Veerans were making good moves till the striking circle, but nothing significant happened after that. Having a good drag flicker in VR Raghunath, Veerans would have stood a good chance had they forced penalty corners. However, that was not to be.
The match started out on a rather subdued note. The teams exchanged possession regularly and took the ball to the rival circle. There were a few shots at the goal from the Steelers, but not as many from Veerans. There were a couple of good moves from Korean player Kim Chul from the right flank. His crafty moves from the right to the centre in the circle were pretty good. However, nothing came off the moves with Steelers not combining well. To sum up the first quarter, barring the stray foray, it was more of a practice session on display.
Gaining momentum
The game picked up speed from the second quarter onwards. After the drop in performance by Veerans, Steelers did not really have to do anything special. But the Orissa team was not the one to take things easy.
There were two significant attempts from Steelers, the second from their Pakistan forward Shakeel Abbasi being a very close shave for Veerans.
In the very next minute, the 26th, Eliazer Lakra put Steelers in the lead. This was a soft goal where Eliazer received the ball at the top of the circle with the rival defence not really in position. Eliazer took a weak reverse hit. Veerans' goalkeeper PR Sreejesh tried to palm the ball away with his left-hand. However, the ball hit his glove, bounced up and entered the goal.
This goal brought the game alive. The second goal came in the 41st minute from Sunil Ekka. Birendra Lakra took a shot at the goal, but Sreejesh saved the shot. However, he could not save the second shot, taken by Sunil.
The third goal, which came in the 42nd minute, was a very soft one indeed. Steelers' Joga Singh, on the right flank, attempted to pass the ball to Abbasi, who was just beyond the far post. Rival goalkeeper Sreejesh tried to intercept the ball and kick it away. Sadly, the ball deflected into the goal, leaving Veerans cursing their luck.  Steelers' William Xalxo was adjudged the man of the match.
Thursday's matches: Hyderabad Sultans vs Bangalore Hi-Fliers: 6.00 pm.