Indian Gymkhana leapfrogged their hosts Canterbury today to go top of the pile after a dramatic second half turnaround at Polofarm.
Canterbury held the ascendancy early on in the game, with good possession and a high tempo to their play, as they probed the visitors’ defence. Time and again though they were forced back with the ball, and the visitors’ water-tight backline began to cause frustration.
Gymkhana waited for the inevitable slip-up before setting up counter-attack after blistering counter-attack, with superior flair and stick-skills.
It wasn’t long before the game was suddenly a more open affair, with Gymkhana using the flanks to good advantage and stretching the Canterbury midfield by forcing them to track back and defend on the back foot.
Canterbury responded by winning a pair of penalty corners, but couldn’t convert them into goals. The increased pressure invoked an ill-disciplined response from the visitors, and the game became fractious; there were three green cards in the final 10 minutes of the half.
The second half brought an early goal, Andrew Dunn registered for the home side from a penalty corner 2 minutes in. Leigh Barratt doubled the advantage 10 minutes later, and it seemed that the victory was sealed.
Conceding two goals in such rapid succession served to elicit a deadly response in the West London-based visitors, who had other ideas. Their first shot on goal of the day produced a goal, the Canterbury ‘keeper was beaten by the cross to leave Laveen Jandu with an easy finish.
Five minutes later saw Gymkhana draw the game level at 2-2, Jagdeep Gill registering with a blinding penalty corner drag flick to the goalkeeper’s left with the man on the post left standing.
League top-scorer Lloyd Norris-Jones tried to take the game by the scruff of the neck and win Canterbury the game, but the South African international striker couldn’t find the finish to match some impressive solo runs.
The 30th minute brought with it the game’s only yellow card, with tempers fraying. A Gymkhana player was dismissed for wrestling midfielder Huw Stevens almost to the ground, with his stick flaying dangerously close to the 19-year-old Welsh international’s face.
Ten-man Gymkhana only seemed to gain more resolve, and scored a the winning goal with just one minute left on the clock, the hard-working Pravinder Hanspal finishing with the ‘keeper left stranded again and luckless Canterbury were beaten.
Three goals conceded and three points dropped for Canterbury, who will take this as a hard blow as they look to bounce back to the Slazenger Premier League on the first attempt following relegation last season.
The two Christchurch students in the team, Tom Richford (former England-youth defender), and Huw Stevens (Wales) had this to say at the final whistle:
Richford:
“We were unlucky today in terms of the amount of chances we had, and we didn’t score enough, and they got lucky with their three shots on target to score all of them.”
Stevens:
“I thought I played alright, but it’s hard work to get into a game like that, all they want to do is break the game down. So I tried to get into it much as I could – get it, give it, get it, give it. Looking back on the team performance, we should’ve won, lots of chances, a couple of open goals, we did well to break them down but at the end, 2-2, we let them in and don’t move our feet like we have done all game, and that lets them in and they score.”
Gymkhana’s 3-2 victory is some turnaround from last weekend, when again they were the visitors to Polofarm, with Canterbury running out 6-1 winners.
The result is Canterbury’s second defeat of the season, with the green-and-whites having lost by the same scoreline away to rivals Sevenoaks in November.
The Conference East table is looking tight, with new leaders Gymkhana only three points ahead of fifth-placed Sevenoaks.
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