Puneri Paltans’ winning momentum comes to a grinding halt
Lucknow 22 August 2017: In the battle of the heavyweights, Puneri Paltan lost to Gujarat FortuneGiants by a margin of 35-21.
Puneri Paltan suffered only their second defeat of the season and remain second with 21 points from six games.
Gujarat Fortunegiants now top the table in Zone A with 41 points after 10 matches.
Sachin opened Gujarat’s account in the first minute as they led 1-0. Puneri Paltan’s defence scored their first point of the match in the second minute. It was a tight game in the early part of the match as both teams were level at 5-5 after eight minutes.
Puneri Paltan scored two points in the last few minutes of the first half as they trailed 7-16 at the break.
The second half began with both teams scoring raid and tackle points as Gujarat led 18-10 after 25 minutes. Deepak Niwas Hooda scored a raid point in the 26th minute as Puneri Paltan trailed 11-18. Sachin scored with a raid point in the 31st minute as Gujarat led 22-11.
Gujarat Fortunegiants were looking in control of the match as Puneri Paltan were finding it difficult to reduce the deficit. Both teams exchanged a raid point in the 32nd minute as Gujarat led 23-13. Puneri Paltan scored five points in the next few minutes to reduce the deficit to six points.
With less than five minutes remaining, Fazel Atrachali achieved a high five as Gujarat Fortunegiants led 25-18. Puneri Paltan forced a super taklce in the 38thminute to trail 20-27. In the last minute of the match Gujarat inflicted an all out to lead 33-21. Puneri Paltan finished the match on a disappointing note as they lost 21-35.
