Ranchi Rays Blanks Uttar Pradesh Wizards 2-0

Ranchi Rays eked out a laudable win of 2-0 against the home team Uttar Pradesh Wizards in the third edition of Hero Hockey India League 2015 at Major Dhyan Chand Stadium in Lucknow today. The win gave Ranchi Rays five points to take their tally to 14 points. They now share equal points with Uttar Pradesh Wizard in the pool standings.

Both the teams played attacking hockey from the first minute and tried to create chances in each other’s halves.  While, Ranchi Rays went on with full enthusiasm and dominated the whole game, Uttar Pradesh Wizards failed to open their scoring account throughout the game.

The Ashley Jackson led Ranchi Rays had the first scoring chance when Trent Mitton had a fantastic strike-past against Sreejesh and pumped in a beautifully crafted field goal in the 13^thminute of the game. Uttar Pradesh Wizards goalkeeper PR Sreejesh made some remarkable saves in the welcome stages of the game but the visiting team stood successful in finding the gap and put their ball in the net. By the end of the first quarter, Ranchi Rays had taken the early lead with a score of 1-0 on the board.

Both Ranchi Rays and Uttar Pradesh Wizards made some impressive forays but their efforts failed to materialize into goals. Consequently, the second half of the match saw a dry run as both the teams did a good job in defending and restricting each other from doing any damage, leaving the scoreboard to 1-0. 

Moving towards the third quarter of the game, the teams continued to display brilliant stick skills, however it was Ranchi Rays that turned the match in their favour when Mandeep Singh surged ahead and scored a goal in 42^nd minute through a field effort further advancing the lead to 2-0.

Both the teams made desperate efforts and tried to keep the possession of the ball not letting the other team to convert any scoring opportunities. As the time neared the end, neither of the teams was able to score. Ranchi Rays asserted a proud win and white-washed Uttar Pradesh Wizards by 2-0 at the home of Wizards in Lucknow. 

Appreciating the team’s performance Head Coach of Ranchi Rays, Harendra Singh said, "The team has been playing a fair game till now in the league and we were expecting favourable results today. Fortunately, we won the match. Looking at the intensity of the matches in this season none of the teams in the league can be considered weak and this year's edition of Hero HIL is turning out to be the most competitive one till date. Our man to man marking was well in place and our goalkeeper Lovell Tyler also did a good job in the match today. Today's match seemed to be more like Ranchi Rays Vs. PR Sreejesh. We will try and carry this form in the upcoming matches as well."

Speaking on the loss Head Coach of Uttar Pradesh Wizards, Roelant Oltmans said, "Ranchi Rays was a well organized side in the match today and played well during the entire match. We tried to chase them down and but failed to do so. The team did not perform as per the planned execution and therefore we lost the match. We had good opportunities but could not convert them into goals. Sreejesh did a really good job and saved a lot of goals.”

Uttar Pradesh Wizards will play against Jaypee Punjab Warriors on 04 February 2015 at 1500 HRS IST at Dhyan Chand Stadium, Lucknow.

The match will be telecast LIVE on Star Sports.

Hero Goal of the Match- Trent Mitton (Ranchi Rays)

Man of the Match- PR Sreejesh (Uttar Pradesh Wizards)