Lahore
Oman made a grand come back to earn a surprise 4-4 draw against fancied Pakistan development squad in the second hockey test here on Wednesday at the National hockey stadium.
It was a stunning performance on part of the touring side which suffered 7-0 defeat by the home side in the opener at the same venue.
Oman is on a preparatory tour ahead of their participation Asia Confederation Cup being played in Bangladesh from October 14.
Oman were supported by brilliance of their hat trick maker and the match-maker Rashad Salim Hamed Al-Fazari. Apart from sterling performance of Rashad as Aliyas Sulaiman Mohammed Al-Noufali shared one goal.
From the home side, Amjad Ali Khan contributed with a brace while Hammad Anjum and Rana Abdul Waheed scored one goal each.
Oman under the coaching of former Pakistan captain and Olympian, Tahir Zaman entered the match with a better planning and strategy and appeared an altogether opponent compared to their previous day sluggish show.
On the other hand the home chief coach, former Pakistan captain and Olympian, Khawaja Muhammad Junaid tried out various players on speicalised positions ,which perhaps was the main reason as the players failed to develop coordination and lost the ideal sitters in the run of play.
The visiting side started with an aggressive approach which helped them to open their account in the 12th minute through a fabulous field goal of hat-trick boy Rashad. In the very next minute, the local side made a good comeback and netted an impressive goal on a penalty cornor by Amjad to level the score at 1-1 to put a new life in the match in front of empty stadium.
The second quarter was identical to the first one as both the sides slammed in one goal apiece to finish it at 2-2 as keen tussle was seen in fields attacks and both the sides presented better brand of hockey.—APP
