The Indian hockey junior men's team weathered an early storm to convincingly sweep aside Scotland senior team 5-1 in their second encounter of the England tour here at the Bisham Abbey Sports Centre on Sunday.
Despite a quick beginning by the opponents, India defended a penalty corner smartly in the opening minutes before winning one of their own off a counter attack. Parvinder saw a chance go amiss and Varun Kumar shot wide from a PC soon after.
India started controlling the game with much more determination as the quarter wore down and took the lead off a goal by Ajay Yadav. With the hooter for the quarter,Indian goalkeeeper Suraj Karkera pulled off two smart saves very closely to deny Scotland the equaliser heading into the first break.
The saves were to prove crucial as India came out quicker in the second quarter, creating a flurry of chances in the opening exchanges. Yadav capitalised on some slack Scotland defending to extend India's lead to 2-0 heading into half time.
India won a stroke early in the third quarter and Varun Kumar made no mistake from the spot firing India into a three-goal lead. Desperate to reduce the scoreline, and the threat of a blow out imminent, Scotland started pushing forward in numbers and holding the ball in the midfield. India's defence held strong though and the scoreline remained 3-0 heading into the final break.
The trend continued in the final quarter. Scotland played the ball forward as India looked to capitalise on the counter. A couple of quick PCs were smartly denied by Suraj in India's goal, before Varun scored his second of the match to put any hopes of a Scotland comeback on hold. With the game headed to the hooter Gurjant added a fifth to India's tally.
Scotland's William Marshall scored a goal in the dying minutes, but it proved to be little consolation as India ran out 5-1 winners to record their second victory of the tour.
