Haryana Steelers silence home crowd to defeat Puneri Paltan in nail-biter

Despite the pressure from a partisan home crowd, Haryana Steelers triumphed over Puneri Paltan 44-39 at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune on Friday. While Vinay's 15 raid points were undoubtedly a huge contributor, it was the Steelers' defensive duo of Rahul Sethpal (6 tackle points) and Jaideep Dahiya (4 tackle points) who were eventually responsible for their victory.

In a blistering start, Aslam Inamdar kicked off the game with a Super Raid to put the home side on the front foot. It didn't last long and almost immediately the Steelers responded with a Super Raid of their own with Vinay netting five Paltan players to leave them reeling. The first All-Out followed soon after as the Steelers took an 11-7 lead.

Puneri Paltan did not let that dampen their spirits and slowly chipped away at the lead. It took two Super Tackles in a row by Rahul Sethpal — who put in 4 of his team's 6 tackle points in the half — to save the Steelers' blushes. Eventually though, Paltan inflicted an All-Out on the Steelers to take a 24-21 lead into the break.

The first half had been defined by high-quality raiding, with the teams logging a combined 25 raid points. The second half though belonged to a rejuvenated Steelers defence, which missed a mere three tackles in the period, while picking up a massive 9 tackle points. Despite the Paltan's raiders' best efforts, the Steelers kept hurting them and keeping their numbers limited. They inflicted a second All-Out on the Paltan with two minutes remaining before wrapping up a 44-39 victory.

Top Performers

Puneri Paltan

Best Raider - Aslam Inamdar (8 raid points)

Best Defender - Abinesh Nadarajan (3 tackle points)

Haryana Steelers

Best Raider - Vinay (15 raid points)

Best Defender - Rahul Sethpal (6 tackle points)

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