Coach Fulton lauds youngsters' showing in Germany hockey Tests

'We scored some really good goals and the younger players contributed; so that was also heartening.'

India chief coach Craig Fulton credited the team's fighting spirit and sharpness of the players on the pitch for the dominant 5-3 win over World champions and Olympics silver medallist Germany in the second and final hockey Test in New Delhi on Thursday.

India, however, lost the series via shoot-out (1-3 scoreline) after the two sides were tied 1-1 in the two-match contest. Germany won the first Test 2-1 in Delhi on Wednesday.

"We are playing well; we just had to put it together and today we did that. That was really good. It's a good team. It's just that what we couldn't do yesterday we did today. Sometime when you want it to happen but it doesn't," Fulton said after the match.

"We played well yesterday but weren't that sharp; but today we improved and were full of energy. We scored some really good goals and the younger players contributed; so that was also heartening."

India trailed by a goal at half-time but came back roaring after the change of ends and pumped in four goals in the fourth quarter.

"We really had good phases today. We were sharp on the pitch. At half-time I told the boys to relax and just be calm. We will get our chances," Fulton said.

He said the series was a good exposure for young and new players.

"(Mohammed) Raheel did well, Aditya (Arjun Lalage) did very well, Vishnu (Vishnukant) did well. As I said we need to give these players opportunities," he said.

"The series was all about giving new players an opportunity; that was our goal and it was really good.

"It's a good opportunity to play them. We are using the platform to use younger players, different players."

The coach lauded skipper Harmanpreet Singh, who scored a brace, along with Sukhjeet, on Thursday.

"Really good PC conversions by Harman. We just need to get our set pieces right the we will start the momentum," said Fulton.

Harmanpreet said the two matches offered plenty of scope to experiment things, like trying out new players and variations in penalty-corners.

"The matches provided us good inputs. We took these matches to try out new things and players and effort was successful.

"It gave us good inputs about some youngsters and few players who made their comebacks."