Mumbai, Jan 29 (IANS) Dabang Mumbai head coach Jay Stacy on Friday blamed the inability to convert penalty corners into goals for their 3-4 loss to Delhi Waveriders in the Coal India Hockey India League (HIL) here on Friday.
Mumbai got eight penalty corners in the match but ended up losing their third consecutive match and are placed in the bottom of the points table in the six-team league.
“Missing so many penalty corners made the difference in the match. We have to get better. The first half was not bad. I was happy with the physical effort our team gave. There is no room for error and can’t afford to have lapse in concentration,” Stacy said at the post-match press conference.
Mumbai will be facing Kalinga Lancers on Sunday in a vital match and the coach is hopeful that the side will come back strong after three consecutive losses.
Waveriders, the 2014 champions opened the scoring in the eighth minute via a penalty corner conversion from Rupinderpal Singh, but Mumbai came back well in the first quarter itself with a field goal from Florian Fuchs which gave them 2-1 lead.
But the third quarter saw Delhi equalise (2-2) via penalty corner with another penalty corner conversion from Rupinder. Thereafter, Mumbai scored their third goal via Harmanpreet Singh’s penalty stroke in the 54th minute (3-2).
But to the surprise of the home fans, Talwinder Singh scored a field goal in the dying minutes to make it 4-3 for Delhi.
“We have to improve in the next match. We have to look at the video and work on it. I am hopeful we will give our best against Kalinga,” he said.
On the other hand, Delhi coach Cedric D’Souza after their third win of the league was on a high and hoped to hold on to their winning run ahead.
“We really defended well in the match. It was a very close match I have to say. The field goal one can say was vital but any goal if you can manage is important,” he said.
“The match could have gone either way. Mumbai played well and anything could have happened,” Cedric D’Souza said.
Waveriders will take on Uttar Pradesh Wizards on February 1 at home.