Rangers Beat Guangdong 3-1 in Narowal as Second-Half Surge Settles Fifth Tour Match
Narowal got its money’s worth on Monday. Pakistan Rangers scored twice in the second half to beat China’s Guangdong team 3-1 in the fifth match of their international series at the Sports City Hockey Stadium, and for a long stretch it looked like neither side would blink first.
The first two quarters were a proper arm wrestle. Both teams had their moments, neither could find the net, and the sides went into half-time level. Then Rangers found the gear they’d been missing. The breakthrough came in the 37th minute, and from there the home side never looked back, adding two more after the break to take the game away from the visitors.
Guangdong found the net once themselves, but it wasn’t enough to change where the game was heading. Rangers saw it out 3-1, and the post-match pictures told the story: Rangers players in dark blue lifting the trophy on the Narowal turf, medals around their necks, in front of a packed Sports City crowd.
It’s a decent scalp for Rangers in a series that’s already produced plenty of talking points. Guangdong opened the tour with a 5-2 loss to Mari Energies in Rawalpindi, then beat Pakistan Army on shoot-outs after a 1-1 draw in Islamabad, and lost 3-1 to Pakistan Navy at the Naseer Bunda ground. Monday’s result keeps the pattern going: the departmental sides are giving the visitors nothing easy.
For Guangdong, there’s no time to dwell on it. Tuesday is a rest day, then it’s on to Gojra on Wednesday for the match against Pakistan’s under-18 side, a fixture the coaches on both sides will be watching closely. The tour wraps up against Pakistan Police in Lahore on Thursday before the visitors head home on Friday.
Rangers, meanwhile, can enjoy this one. Winning at home, in front of your own crowd, against international opposition, never gets old.
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