A superb last-gasp save from Bangladesh goalkeeper Asim Gope earned the hosts a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Sri Lanka in the inaugural match of the second edition of the FIH Hockey World League Round 1 at the Maulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium yesterday.
The heroics of Gope not only helped Bangladesh to salvage all three points but also took the home side on the verge of becoming the champions in HWL Round 1 for the second consecutive time.
In a game which saw Bangladesh struggle to find their rhythm against a weaker neighbouring side, the hosts were leading 3-2 with just a few seconds left till the final whistle when Sri Lanka earned three consecutive penalty corners followed by a penalty stroke.
The pressure was immense as the penalty stroke would have been the final shot of the game following the end of stipulated time. A few Sri Lankan players were already celebrating after claiming the penalty stroke but Gope proved to be the hero diving to his right to deny Weerasooriya Lahiru’s penalty.
Bangladesh, however, began the game brighter of the two sides as Hasan Jubair Niloy gave the hosts an early breakthrough with just four minutes on the clock. Niloy flicked a fierce hit of Irfan towards Sri Lankan goalie Amila Rathnasiri who stood no chance of saving the shot.
Sri Lanka collected their first penalty corner three minutes later but Tharanga Gunawardana failed to exploit it after a decent save from Gope. Pushkor Khisa Mimo on the other hand wasted a glorious chance to double the hosts’ lead a minute later when his reverse hit was parried away to safety by Rathnasiri.
The visitors though did not take long to come back to the game and equalised in the 13th minute from their second penalty corner. Sadaruwan Priyalanka changed the direction of Weerasooriya’s flick to send the ball home.
Krishno Kumar put Bangladesh ahead again in the 22nd minute through a penalty stroke after his flick was stopped by Lalantha De Silva with his hand.
It took Bangladesh 27 minutes to get their first penalty corner and Khorshedur Rahman made no mistake finding the net with a smart flick after Krishno’s push was stopped by Sarwar.
Bangladesh almost grabbed their fourth goal from their fourth penalty corner in the 45th minute but Lankan defender Bandara Damith made a goal-line clearance to deny Khorshed’s flick.
Sri Lanka reduced the margin in the 66th minute when Sadaruwan Priyalanka flicked home connecting a De Silva hit from the right.
Gope rescued the hosts from a shocking draw by saving the penalty stroke taken by Weerasooriya after three successive penalty corners in the dying stages of the game.
Bangladesh will play their last match in Round 1 against Hong Kong at the same venue tomorrow.
