Janssen stars with hat-trick for Dragons; Toofans register first win

ROURKELA: Jip Janssen slammed a hat-trick to steer Tamil Nadu Dragons to a tight 6-5 win over Team Gonasika in a high-scoring Hockey India League (HIL) clash here on Wednesday.

The result has taken Dragons to the second spot on the standings with nine points in four matches.

In the day's second game, Hyderabad Toofans got their first outright win of the tournament as they defeated UP Rudras 3-0.

Zachary Wallace (6'), Rajinder Singh (14') and Shilanand Lakra (32') scored for Hyderabad Toofans in a dominating display by their team.

Hyderabad Toofans are now placed fifth in the eight team standings, while UP Rudras are in fourth position after two wins from four outings.

Earlier, Team Gonasika dominated the initial proceedings and found the opener as early as the fifth minute.

Araijeet Singh Hundal was offered a tad too much space at the edge of the circle and he made the most of it by letting one rip off his stick.

David Harte was no match to the strike as Araijeet raised his arms in celebration and Gonasika took the lead.

Gonasika didn't have to wait too long to extend their lead as Araijeet struck again in the 10th minute.

Timothee Clement made a surging run into the circle and played a lovely aerial pass for Araijeet, who calmly put the ball past Harte.

As Gonasika appeared to run away with the contest, the Dragons struck back in the final minute of the first quarter via a well-worked penalty corner.

Janssen played a lovely variation to Abharan Sudev, who executed a perfect finish to halve his side's deficit. The Dragons were back on level terms four minutes into the second quarter as Janssen scored a stunning dragflick.

They upped the pressure to win back-to-back penalty corners and the second one saw the Dutch star time his strike to perfection to make it 2-2.

Gonasika then had reason to celebrate as Struan Walker scored a mind-blowing goal in the 43rd minute to restore their lead.

The 22-year-old striker's drag flick from the penalty corner was unstoppable as he rifled it into the top right corner. Gonasika went into the final quarter with the scoreboard favouring them at 4-3.

The Dragons' relentless pressure in the final 15 paid off as they won three successive corners and the third of those led to a fabulous goal.

Blake Govers set up Janssen off a cleverly-worked variation and the Dutchman slotted the ball home to make it 4-4 and earn his hat-trick.

The roller-coaster nature of this contest continued as Dragons, against the run of play, took the lead in the 55th minute.

There were multiple players crowding around the goalmouth and the ball found its way to Nathan Ephraums, who put it past Payne to give the Dragons a 5-4 lead.

Gonasika gave it their all and found a way back into the contest when Clement turned in Manpreet Singh's deflection with a fantastic one-handed attempt in the 58th minute.

But the drama didn't stop there as the Dragons took just 12 seconds to soar into the lead. Karthi Selvam made a surging run into the box, cut back and set himself up beautifully before easing it past the 'keeper and making it 6-5.