Kalinga Lancers News

Bhubaneswar, 30 January 2015: After a disheartening defeat against Uttar Pradesh Wizards in their previous encounter at Lucknow, Kalinga Lancers will recollect all their resources to put-up a stimulating performance against Uttar Pradesh Wizards tomorrow at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. Experienced coach Jude Felix-led team is practicing various strategies to win the game on their home turf.

On the other side, Uttar Pradesh Wizards are upbeat after their stunning 5-1 win against Kalinga Lancers. UP Wizards had scored four goals in the last eight minutes and earned 5 crucial points to topple Kalinga Lancers to 3rd position in their preview encounter. All the players are now riding on confidence and very much motivated after getting back their lost form and will go all out to maintain their winning spree after tasting their first win.

With the Dutch player Wouter Jolie and penalty corner specialist VR Raghunath as defenders, the Lucknow-based team will utilise all their big guns such as Jeroen Hertzberger of Netherlands and SK Uthappa in the forward line, Dutch players Bob De Voogd and Alexander Baart along with Australian Eddie Ockenden in the midfield and world-class goal-keeper PR Sreejesh in their away match against Kalinga Lancers in Bhubaneswar.

Host team Kalinga Lancers will strive to win their second match at their home turf, keeping revenge of their disappointing loss in their mind. Having talented players in the squad, which include Australia’s Russel Ford and Lalit Upadhyay in the forward line, Ryan Archibald of New Zealand and skipper Vickram Kanth in midfield along with Argentinean Gonzalo Peillat and Gurjinder Singh in the defence line, Kalinga Lancers will stick to their strategy of aggressive attacks from the first whistle and maintain pressure on the opponents.

The host team will step on the Kalinga Stadium astro-turf to earn some good points, which will help their position in top four of the points-table. Now at 6 points, Kalinga Lancers will lose their fourth position if they lost the match tomorrow and defending champions Delhi Waveriders win their home match against Jaypee Punjab Warriors on 30 January 2015.

Speaking on their tomorrow’s match, Jude Felix, Coach, Kalinga Lancers stated, “Yesterday’s performance was very disappointing for the team but we are not demoralised. In the previous match, we gave a good fight to UP Wizards in the first three quarters of the match but we lost our momentum in the fourth quarter, which cost us the match.  We still have the best players and young talents, who have ability to win any match. Boys have the confidence and now we have understood our opponents’ game, so we are looking forward to a good competition in tomorrow’s match.”

“We committed silly mistakes in the defence line, which was tactfully materialised by UP Wizards. We focussed more on the midfield and lost our ground in the fourth quarter. We are now working on those mistakes and will try not to repeat those. Tomorrow is new match at our own turf in front of our fans. We are confident that we will deliver better results this time,” Captain Vickram Kanth of Kalinga Lancers added.

Roelant Oltmans, Coach of Uttar Pradesh Wizards said, “The rotation of captain in each game is working positively in our team. We won the last match under our new captain Wouter Jolie with a huge margin and we will try something different in tomorrow’s match as well. We will stick to our strategy of using new players and changing formations during the match tomorrow. Though this is an away match, our boys are confident of showcasing their best skills against Kalinga Lancers tomorrow.”

Uttar Pradesh Wizards player Wouter Jolie said in a briefing to the media, “After yesterday’s win, our team is now in a good shape and we will take this form forward. Four goals in last eight minutes is really a motivating factor for us and we will continue with our aggressive game-plan. Our team is now better composed and combinations are working well. There is still room for improvement and we will work on new things in tomorrow’s match. We are looking forward to face Kalinga Lancers again.”

Kalinga Lancers will take on Uttar Pradesh Wizards on 31 January 2015 at 1900 HRS IST at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.

The match will be telecast LIVE on Star Sports.