Khalsa miss out on promotion after defeat at Lichfield - The Leamington Observer

Khalsa miss out on promotion after defeat at Lichfield

Leamington Editorial 15th Mar, 2017 Updated: 16th Mar, 2017   0

HOCKEY: A RUN of 13 consecutive wins came to an end for Khalsa on Saturday after they fell to a 3-2 defeat away at fifth-placed Lichfield in the Midland League Premier Division.

Khalsa travelled to Lichfield with a depleted squad but a strong enough team to make it a competitive game.

With a defensive formation in mind, the visitors were chasing the ball down well in the first half, with Anit Chudasama doing well to marshal the midfield along with Jack Wells and Joe Colantonio.

The hosts were the closest to opening the scoring with several successive short corners, however keeper Elliot Rider denied them the satisfaction.




Khalsa capitalised on the missed chances with a counter attacking move. A piercing run from David Harris created space for Savhan Lall and Gurminder Ghattaura to link up and play the ball across for David Harris to tap in at the back post.

Khalsa doubled their lead soon after when Ben Stephenson hit a sensational 40-yard pass to Harris who beat the keeper with a first-time shot into the corner of the goal.


With limited numbers on the bench, Khalsa started to fade with tiredness, simple errors creeping into their play allowing Lichfield to grow in confidence with more ball possession but it remained 2-0 at the break.

In the second half Khalsa continued to shape up in a defensive formation, again conceding the lion’s share of possession to the hosts.

Lichfield however eventually pulled a goal back from the penalty spot after the ball was illegally stopped on the line and soon after they were level from a penalty corner routine.

With minutes remaining, Lichfield sensed a winner was possible to complete the comeback, and after throwing numbers forward, a scrappy clearance from the Khalsa defence eventually allowed the ball to kindly fall to the Lichfield forward to lift over the keeper to take all three points.

It ends Khalsa’s 13-game winning streak and ending their promotion hopes after Nottingham University’s win confirming them as champions.

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