Three goals in as many minutes of the final quarter dashed Uttar Pradesh Wizards’ hopes of going top of the table as it had to settle for a draw against Delhi Waveriders in its last league match of the Hero Hockey India League here on Wednesday.
With both teams already confirmed for the semifinals, there was not much at stake. However, there was no let up in the teams’ intensity.
Leading 2-0 at one point, UPW looked set for an easy victory before the host raised the level in the last 15 minutes. UPW fought back to draw 3-3 and take two points from the game.
With this, UPW climbed to 32 points to remain third on the table while DW remained fourth with 25 points.
Two in two After being on the backfoot for a major part of the game, DW scored twice in two minutes through Matt Gohdes and Simon Child to go ahead 3-2 in the 51st minute.
Both goals were more due to defensive lapses by UPW, which had managed to stave off several attempts till then.
Despite a flurry of attacks early on, DW was unable to get past P.R. Sreejesh under the bar. UP finally went ahead in the 19th minute when V.R. Raghunath slammed past Nicolas Jacobi off a penalty corner. Jeroen Hertzberger tapped in a Pradeep Mor pass to make it 2-0.
That was before DW came back forcefully to almost take the match away from the visitor. But Raghunath again scored in the 52nd minute to help level scores.
The scores: Uttar Pradesh Wizards 3 (V.R. Raghunath 2, Jeroen Hertzberger) drew with Delhi Waveriders 3 (Andrew Hayward, Matt Gohdes, Simon Child).
