Persistent Wizards blank Rhinos

Uttar Pradesh Wizards struck twice in the second half to score a 2-0 victory over Ranchi Rhinos in the Hockey India League here on Sunday.

A superb reverse hit by Jeroen Hertzberger and a penalty corner conversion by skipper VR Raghunath was good enough to earn Wizards full points from the home game.

The win took Wizards to 12 points, same as Delhi Waveriders, but they are on top of the points table due to a better goal difference.

The first half saw a battle between two sides that were trying to stamp their supremacy on the match.

In the opening period, both the teams were solid at the back and in the midfield, and as a result, good moves were few and far between.

Mandeep Singh constantly tried to break Wizards’ defence, his first good move being blocked well by Harbir Singh.

Mandeep was at his best once again, with the half-time whistle just a couple of minutes away. Beating a couple of defenders, Mandeep got really close to Wizards’ post, eventually earning a penalty corner but to no avail.

The third quarter was dominated by Wizards by actively putting pressure on Rhinos.
First, it was Jolie Wouter in the 37th minute, when he tried an ambitious reverse hit from the right, with the ball flying over the goal-post.

Five minutes later, Jeroen Hertzberger came up with the hosts’ first real threat on Rhinos goal, with his well-struck reverse hit being saved by goalkeeper Francisco Cortes.

The constant pressure finally paid dividends for the Wizards in the 47th minute when Hertzberger beat two Rhinos defenders to smash a fierce reverse hit, which beat the outstretched arm of Cortes and went into the goal to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.

Wizards could have doubled the lead three minutes later, but Raghunath’s low strike off a penalty corner was well saved by Cortes.

Wizards, however, did manage to double their lead when Raghunath scored from the home team’s second penalty corner in the 60th minute.