In a thrilling finale to the group stage of the Men’s Hockey India League (HIL), Surma Hockey Club delivered a dominant 6-1 victory over SG Pipers at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Thursday. Despite the convincing win, Surma’s dreams of advancing to the qualifiers were dashed, falling just short of the seven-goal margin they desperately needed.
The match kicked off with Surma asserting early dominance. Jeremy Hayward, the drag flick maestro, opened the scoring in the 2nd minute with a blistering penalty corner strike into the top right corner. He doubled the lead in the 7th minute, outfoxing goalkeeper Thomas Santiago with another precise flick.
Surma’s pressure paid off again in the first quarter when Gurjant Singh set up Lucas Martinez for a clinical counter-attack goal in the 11th minute, making it 3-0. Pipers struggled to penetrate Surma’s solid defense, managing only sporadic forays forward.
The second quarter saw Surma maintain possession while Pipers adopted a cautious, defense-first strategy. Vincent Vanasch in Surma’s goal faced a few tests but stood firm, preserving the clean sheet at halftime.
Post-interval, Surma switched tactics, employing long aerial passes to stretch Pipers’ defense. This led to another penalty corner, which Hayward converted masterfully in the 34th minute, beating defender Jermanpreet Singh. Late in the third quarter, Pipers finally broke through with Thomas Domain’s low flick from a penalty corner, pulling one back.
But Surma responded swiftly. A penalty stroke awarded after a foul by Pawan was calmly slotted home by Hayward in the 45th minute. In the final quarter, Nicolas Keenan added a sixth in the 47th minute, tapping in a rebound. Pipers earned late penalty corners, but Surma’s goalkeeper Mohit HS made crucial saves.
Despite the onslaught, Pipers held firm in the dying minutes, denying Surma the goal that would have secured qualification. JSW Surma Hockey Club ends its campaign on a high note with the win but bows out of HIL contention, leaving fans to rue what could have been.