India’s Ignace Tirkey (right) steers the ball clear of two England players in Amstelveen on Saturday

Amstelveen: India managed to avoid the ignominy of finishing last as they laboured to a scrappy 2-1 victory over England to finish seventh in the eight-nation RaboBank Trophy on Saturday.

After three consecutive defeats, the beleaguered Indians managed to save face but the performance still left much to be desired.

India shot into the lead two minutes before the breather through Gagan Ajit singh, with Deepak Thakur consolidating their position in the 53rd.

James Tindall scored England’s consolation goal in a dramatic last minute that also saw the Englishmen get an opportunity to equalise with a penalty corner at the stroke of the hooter.

But the jittery Indians had some luck going their way and escaped to victory much to the relief of coach Rajinder Singh jr who has blamed some “big-headed” seniors for the team’s miseries.

The Indians owed their victory to rookie goalkeeper Bharat Chetri who pulled off a number of spectacular saves in his first match of the tournament.

The Indians never really found their rhythm and a number of mispasses and poor trappings only compounded their misery.

Chetri got into the act straightaway as he produced a couple of brilliant saves within the first 10 minutes of the match.

England enjoyed territorial advantage for most of the opening session, but the Indians managed to take the lead in the 33rd when Gagan Ajit deflected a push from captain Dilip Tirkey off a penalty corner.

After the breather, the Indian forward line showed more urgency and managed to weave a few well-orchestrated moves but without much luck.

The Englishmen also made a few forays into the Indian defence but failed to get their act together inside the striking circle.

Deepak, who has been off colour in the tournament, produced a deft reverse sweep in the 53rd to take India closer to victory before Tindall reduced the margin in the 70th.