KHALSA made a welcome return to winning ways in the Midland Hockey League Premier Division thanks to a narrow 2-1 home win over Harborne.
After going two games without a win and following last week’s disappointing defeat at league leaders Lichfield, Khalsa hosted Harborne on Saturday in a match which saw both sides start promisingly.
Sean Robinson came close with a superb run down the flank to take a shot that narrowly missed the top corner of the goal and the hosts had two opportunities from short corners cleared off the line.
The breakthrough eventually came when Gurminder Ghattaura’s pin point 30-yard pass found Scott Angliss advancing up the field and he weaved between the Harborne defence before slotting the ball coolly past the keeper to give Khalsa the lead.
A sensational move between Anit Chudasama and Savhan Lall which included a smart one-two around the opposition defence allowed Lall through on goal but his placed shot sailed agonisingly wide of the far post.
Against the run of play Harborne managed to find an equaliser just before the break when an initial shot at goal was saved by Elliot Rider but the rebound fell kindly to the oncoming striker for an easy goal.
The hosts re-shuffled their structure at half time allowing Stuart Gooderham and Jack Wells a lot of freedom to become more creative.
Gooderham’s piercing pace lead to an early short corner which he struck but another goal-line clearance denied Khalsa the lead.
Alex Iodine’ tremendous stick work around the circle led to an Aaron Nagra penalty corner but he was denied by the crossbar and follow up shot missed the target.
Another chance for Khalsa fell to Chris Darling after a deflected pass found him alone in front of goal but his strike from point blank range sailed over the bar.
It looked as though the hosts would have to settle for a point when Ben Stephenson’s scintillating run from his own ended wit his effort missing the target.
But Nagra eventually broke the stalemate with a short corner strike five minutes from time to seal three important points ahead of this Saturday’s trip to Arden.
