UP Wizards thrash Kalinga Lancers 10-0 in HIL

Bhubaneswar, Jan 29 (IANS) Ramandeep Singh and Akashdeep Singh scored twice each as Uttar Pradesh Wizards thrashed hosts Kalinga Lancers 10-0 in a Coal India Hockey India League (HIL) match at the Kalinga Stadium here on Sunday.

While Argentine forward Augustin Mazzilli scored a field goal in the opening minute, Ramandeep (fourth and 23rd) and Akashdeep (27th and 48th) ripped apart Kalinga's defence, giving much needed victory to UP Wizards.

Reckless passing, soft turnover and lack of a composed defensive structure did the damage for Kalinga. They had conceded seven goals against Ranchi Rays away in their last match. And it seemed they didn't correct their mistakes coming into the match.

The first minute of the match gave a strong signal of what was to come. UP Wizards had a brilliant start with Mazzilli employing a brilliant back-hander to score a field goal in the first minute of the game to make it 2-0.

Continuing their domination on the host team, UP Wizards scored another goal when Ramandeep's drive from the edge of the 'D' stunned Kalinga goalkeeper Abhinav Pandey in the fourth minute.

The visitors maintained their dominance as Ramandeep produced an excellent goal when he brilliantly deflected home a pass of Seve Van Ass from the right in the 23rd minute as UP Wizards showed high quality counter-attacking game.

It was a day of disappointment for the host team as it conceded another goal which came from the stick of Akashdeep, bringing the goal tally of UP Wizards to 8-0 in the 27th minute.

The visitors held a commanding lead over the hosts in the third quarter as well. UP Wizards earned a penalty corner but failed to capitalise it. Both the teams had couple of chances to score. But the strikers could not make it to the net.

In the fourth quarter, Kalinga desperately tried to score to come at a respectable position. But, UP Wizards denied their every attempt.

On the other hand, there was no stopping for UP Wizards as Akashdeep came up with another brilliant finish at 48th minute giving 10-0 lead to the Roelant Oltmans-coached outfit.

With the win, UP Wizards jumped to the fourth spot with six points from two matches, while Kalinga remained in the second position with 10 points from four games. Dabang Mumbai are on top with 12 points from three matches, while Ranchi Rays are third.

After the match, UP Wizards coach Oltmans said: "It was a team effort. All players played well throughout the match. Kalinga Lancers tried well but our goalkeeper thwarted their every attempt."

Kalinga head coach Mark Hager said: "We gave many opportunities to our rival team in the match. We had also some good opportunities. But, we could not convert them into goals."