Kuala Langat storm back for berth

18/08/1997

KUALA Langat overcame a three-goal deficit to hold DeTas to a 3-3 draw andmake the quarterfinals of the Malaysia Hockey League at the Petaling JayaMunicipal Council Hockey Stadium yesterday. St John Davies was the toast of Kuala Langat with his 59th minute strikewhich helped the debutants pull through.
DeTas started aggressively and scored three goals within the first 17minutes but a gritty Kuala Langat maintained the pressure and wererewarded for their persistance in the second half. K. Balakrishnan put DeTas ahead in the seventh minute and was on targetagain in the 13th minute off a penalty corner.
DeTas dominated exchanges after that goal and launched several raidsinto the Kuala Langat semicircle. They got their third goal in the 17th minute off K. Murali and KualaLangat looked like they were in for a thrashing. Davies, who was out of their previous match against Bank Bumiputra(BBMB) owing to suspension, combined well with Rizal Razman to troubleDeTas time and again.
With the three-goal cushion, DeTas started taking things easy andallowed Razali Razman to pull a goal back in the 19th minute. DeTas continued taking things easy despite conceeding the goal andallowed Kuala Langat to dominate exchanges after this. S. Devaraj stunned DeTas when he converted a penalty corner in the 21stminute to bring the scoreline to 3-2 before Davies delivered the equaliserin the second half.
"We achieved our target and my players played their hearts out," saidKuala Langat team manager M. Subramaniam. "Goalkeeper Hamdan Hamzah, whohad a bad start, did well to keep DeTas from scoring more goals." DeTas' coach Kevin Nunis was not disturbed with the draw. "We played in a relaxed atmosphere. I was shocked when we were 3-0 up bythe 17th minute as I had expected Kuala Langat to play a defensive game." Meanwhile, at the Bukit Jalil Hockey Stadium, Pos Malaysia defeated BBMB1-0 with a Balbir Singh goal in the 67th minute to finish fourth in thestandings. Maybank downed Royal Malay Regiment (RMR) 3-1 in the third matchyesterday to finish fifth. Maybank's goals were scored by Shaiful Azli(18th) and Chairil Anwar (49th, 65th). RMR replied through Zulmadi Arrifin(42nd).