Rourkela: A hat-trick by Jip Janssen helped Tamil Nadu Dragons pull off a stunning 6-5 comeback win against Team Gonasika in a goal-fest in the Hockey India League (HIL) 2024-25 clash at the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium here on Wednesday.
Team Gonasika dominated the initial proceedings and found the opener as early as the fifth minute. Araijeet Singh Hundal was offered a tad too much space at the edge of the circle and he made the most of it by letting one rip off his stick.
David Harte was no match to the strike as Hundal raised his arms in celebration and Gonasika took the lead. Gonasika didn’t have to wait too long to extend their lead as Araijeet struck again in the 10th minute. Timothee Clement made a surging run into the circle and played a lovely aerial pass for Araijeet, who calmly put the ball past Harte.
While it appeared like Gonasika were running away with the contest, the Tamil Nadu Dragons struck back in the final minute of the first quarter via a well-worked penalty corner routine. Janssen played a lovely variation to Abharan Sudev, who executed a perfect finish to halve his side’s deficit.
The Dragons were back on level terms four minutes into the second quarter as Janssen scored a stunning drag-flick. The Tamil Nadu side upped the pressure to win back-to-back penalty corners and the second one saw the Dutch star time his strike to perfection to make it 2-2.
The Dragons made a dream start to the second half of the game as Janssen came back to haunt the Gonasika defence. He struck yet another massive drag-flick from a penalty corner and it took a deflection off Oliver Payne before rolling into the back of the net.
It was end-to-end action thereon as two minutes later, Tim Howard came within inches of equalizing for Gonasika but his stirring attempt off a penalty corner variation was denied by the woodwork. However, the Dragons’ lead lasted all of six minutes as Nikkin Thimmaiah caressed the ball home from close range to equalise in the 39th minute.
Gonasika had more reason to celebrate as Struan Walker scored a mind-blowing goal in the 43rd minute to restore their lead. The 22-year-old striker’s drag-flick from the penalty corner was unstoppable as he rifled it into the top right corner. Gonasika went into the final quarter with the scoreboard favouring them at 4-3.
The Dragons’ relentless pressure in the final 15 paid off as they won three successive corners and the third of those led to a fabulous goal. Blake Govers set up Janssen off a cleverly-worked variation and the Dutchman slotted the ball home to make it 4-4 and earn his hat-trick.
The roller-coaster nature of this contest continued as Dragons, against the run of play, took the lead in the 55th minute. There were multiple players crowding around the goalmouth and the ball found its way to Nathan Ephraums, who put it past Payne to give the Dragons a 5-4 lead.
Gonasika gave it their all and found a way back into the contest when Clement turned in Manpreet Singh’s deflection with a fantastic one-handed attempt in the 58th minute. But the drama didn’t stop there as the Dragons took just 12 seconds to soar into the lead. Karthi Selvam made a surging run into the box, cut back, and set himself up beautifully before easing it past the ‘keeper and making it 6-5.
With less than 10 seconds remaining on the clock, Govers made a mindblowing block on the goal-line to deny Gonasika an equaliser and ensure the Dragons took away their second successive outright win. The result takes the Tamil Nadu Dragons to the second spot in the standings with nine points in four matches.
(IANS)
