In the final match of the 7 Test Super Series in Surrey, BC, featuring Canada and India, the Canadians produced on penalty corners. Unfortunately, they left a number of other scoring chances on the field, and India came away with their 6th win of the series after a 3-2 result on Saturday.
Following India's third goal, Canada applied waves of pressure on the opposition's defense and with only two minutes remaining, Pete Short carried the ball into the D, passing it to crowd favorite, Gabbar Singh. Singh wasted no time hammering a backhand that just was saved by the goalie.
In the first half, already down 1-0 in the 15th minute, Mark Erickson cracked a ball in towards Connor Meakin who dove to deflect a dangerous ball on net. Once Canada had tied it up on the 26th minute penalty corner goal, Phil Wright created a glorious chance for himself, first tackling the ball off India's defense and then putting it on net. Just a few moments later, Dave Jameson would have a couple of glorious chances in close.
ÔÇ£It was a beautiful pass through by Jeevers (Ranjeev Deol), touched on by Philly (Wright) beautifully right to me. Then I was one-on-one with the goalie. The ball was too close to me, and tried to sweep it. Instead of going for the corner, I went right at him. Then I got another chance. I tried to chip over him but it was too close to me and I put it right at him,ÔÇØ said Jameson. ÔÇ£You know, when you get those chances, you've got to put them away.ÔÇØ
Canada's Head Coach Allan Brahmst echoed Jameson's frustration: ÔÇ£Squandered opportunities - wide open opportunities in the first half.ÔÇØ Other than that, he felt that the match was pretty even, ÔÇ£I thought it was a crowd pleaser. Canada had quite a few chances and India had quite a few chances. It was pretty open back and forth and I thought it was a good game overall.ÔÇØ
After an abnormal game 6 in which they were awarded zero penalty corners, Canada came back in game 7 to regain their edge in creating three short corners to India's two. This time, they capitalized, as Wayne Fernandes scored on two of the chances for a conversion rate of 66%.
ÔÇ£The first six games were tough, I mean we didn't have any corners in the sixth game, but we had quite a few in the first five. Our ratio wasn't very good and the last three or four days were spent just practicing them and I'm glad it paid off,ÔÇØ said Fernandes.
On the other side, Canada defended both of India's penalty corners well and goaltender David Carter saved both.
ÔÇ£We got out there quick. I think we forced them to make a quick decision where to go and they went to the stick side both times. I was reading it a lot better than I was in the past so I was able to make some easy saves off it,ÔÇØ said Carter.
Connor Meakin and Adam Froese were two young players who performed well on Saturday and earned praise from the coach.
Overall, the 7 match series against India was a positive experience for Canada, despite the 0-6-1 record, and once the team and coaching staff analyze the results, we will write more on this.
Scoring Summary:
21' - IND Singh, Prabjot (FG) 1-0 India
26' - CAN Fernandes, Wayne (PC) 1-1
31' - IND Chandi, Gurwinder (FG) 2-1 India
46' - CAN Fernandes, Wayne (PC) 2-2
49' - IND Khandker, Tushar (FG) 3-2 India
Source: FHC / Omar Rawji
