Despite ireland

FIH Hockey Pro League: The Indian men's hockey team defeated Ireland 4-0 to finish the Rourkela leg of the FIH Hockey Pro League 2023/24 on a high at the Birsa Munda Stadium. Nilakanta Sharma (14’), Akashdeep Singh (15’), Gurjant Singh (38’) and Jugraj Singh (60’) scored a goal each as the Indian men’s hockey team moved up to third position in the points standings.

Ireland earned a penalty corner midway through the first quarter, followed by another opportunity. However, the Indian goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh and the defense successfully thwarted their efforts. With approximately two minutes remaining in the first quarter, India earned a penalty corner, and Nilakanta Sharma (14’) capitalised on the opportunity, scoring a goal from a rebound. Before Ireland could recover from the first goal, the Indian men’s hockey team swiftly added another through Akashdeep Singh (15’), concluding the quarter with a 2-0 lead.

At the start of the second quarter, Ireland seemed to have command over the game and earned an early penalty corner. However, the solid Indian defense once again prevented them from scoring. Despite Ireland maintaining ball possession for the majority of the second quarter, they couldn't penetrate the Indian defense to narrow the lead. The score remained 2-0 in favour of India at halftime.