Malacca MC sail through

06/06/1998

MMC .... 2 JSC .... 0
(MMC win on 4-0 agg)
MALACCA Municipal Council (MMC) paid a heavy price in qualifying for the
National Junior League final at the Tun Razak Stadium yesterday.
Skipper Chua Boon Huat received his second yellow card and will not play
against Old La Sallians of Klang (Olak) in the final at the Tun Razak
Stadium tomorrow.
Johor Sports Council (JSC), who lost the first leg 2-0, were never in
the match and it took two penalty corners yesterday to douse their fire.
MMC took the cautious approach and defended for the first 10 minutes,
allowing JSC much room to move.
Christopher Jerard received a pass on the left in the 15th minute and
came face to face with Johor goalkeeper Khuzmir Mustaffar.
He fired in a thundering shot, but while the ball missed the goal by
inches, his stick flew into the net. The steady drizzle continued until
the final whistle and sticks flew in every direction.
MMC received their fourth penalty corner in the 20th minute and Chua
dribbled past first runner S. Shanker to give Malacca the lead.
Chua was a pillar of strength for Malacca as they made numerous forays
into JSC's half but poor finishing denied them more goals.
After the breather, MMC received their seventh penalty corner and after
a neat stop, a well-placed push by Chua found Mirhardy Nawawi who
confirmed Malacca's ticket to the final.
In the final minute of play, Chua tackled a Johor player from behind and
received a yellow card which put him out of the final.
Said MMC coach Eugene Lee: "Chua played an instrumental role in guiding
MMC to the final. It would not be fair if he has to watch from the
sidelines.
"We will submit an appeal to the technical committee tomorrow (today) to
reduce his yellow card to a green so that he can play in the final. In my
opinion, the fault was a minor one."
But Lee took the risk when he continued playing Chua even when Malacca
had a commanding 2-0 lead.
"I knew it was dangerous playing him but I had no choice because two
other players, Mirhardy and Chan Hock Choon, also had bookings so I rested
them.
Tomorrow - 3rd-4th placing: JSC v ESA (3.30); Final: Olak v MMC (5.300.
(END)