Mumbai: Down to 10 men for the second half, Dabang Mumbai secured their first victory in Hockey India League-4 with a thrilling 7-5 win over table toppers and defending champions Ranchi Rays here on Wednesday.
Making light of the red card shown to forward Affan Yousuf at the fag end of the second quarter, Mumbai produced top-drawer stuff to stun Ranchi with a spirited display that stopped the visitors’ four-game winning streak.
Led brilliantly by Australian captain and schemer Matthew Swann, Mumbai scored three field goals through Swann, Nilakanta Sharma and Florian Fuchs after Diwakar Ram gave them an early lead with a penalty corner conversion.
For Ranchi, skipper Ashley Jackson scored twice off penalty corners along with Sandeep Singh while the other goal, a fine field effort, was notched by Sarvanjit Singh.
