CRUCIAL SAVE: Devesh Chauhan of Hyderbad Sultans makes a save off a shot from Parminder Singh of Shere-e-Jalandhar. — Photo: R. Ragu

Chennai: A splendid penalty corner golden goal by Didar Singh enabled Hyderabad Sultans register its second victory in the Premier Hockey League beating Sher-E-Jalandhar at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium here on Thursday.

It turned out to be an absorbing tussle, notwithstanding the plethora of flawed passes and missed chances. The trend was clearly in favour of Sher-E-Jalandhar in the early stages. But the lack of cohesion between the frontline and midfield spoiled the momentum.

Once again the seasoned Baljit Singh Dhillon shone as playmaker for the Jalandhar team. It is a pity that his teammates did not take full advantage of several of his passes. Dhillon also made a valiant attempt to score as he made a diving attempt off a pass from Baljit Singh Saini.

Earlier, Gagan Ajit Singh and the enigmatic Dutchman, Don Prins, were unsuccessful, missing the target. In the midfield, Imran Khan functioned with a touch of authority, spraying his passes with precision.

Spectacular saves

The Sultans was well served by goalkeeper Devesh Chauhan. A few of the saves effected were spectacular, the one from Paraminder Singh being the best of the day.

What looked like an attack working in fits and starts from Sultans, acquired a perceptible measure of consistency largely on account of the individual craft of Tariq Aziz and Shakeel Abbasi. The former, in particular, revealed admirable stick-work and was conspicuously incisive. The pair clearly stressed the rival defence, forcing Harpal Singh and Kanwalpreet Singh work overtime to smother the pressure.

While Harpal Singh blunted the edge of the attack, Kanwalpreet Singh was striking in his interceptions. In the final minutes, Kanwal brought off a splendid goalline save from Tariq Aziz, who wove his way through.

Firm supervision

Firm supervision by umpires Vir Bahadur and Muhammad Muneer kept the proceedings under control, despite a few instances of frayed tempers and injuries. However, rough play reared its head early in the second quarter when Imran Khan and Nitinkumar charged into each other resulting in a yellow-card suspension for the former. Late in the match Tejbir Singh was given marching orders for a bizarre tackle on Nitin. And again, in the extra-time, there was voluble protest by Hyderabad Sultans over a penalty corner.

Sultans has enhanced its tally to five points from five matches, while Jalandhar gained a point to move to 11.

The action resumes on January 31 after a break.

The result: Hyderabad Sultans 1 (Didar Singh) bt Sher-E-Jalandhar 0. MoM: Devesh Chauhan.

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