Two-goal Kalis fails to stop AIS

16/03/1999

MALAYSIA ... 2 AIS ... 3
M. KALISWARAN finally found his scoring touch after a long dry spell but
it was not enough for Malaysia to beat the Australian Institute of Sports
(AIS) team in their third friendly at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.
In the end, a handful of mistakes by defenders Chua Boon Huat, S. Kuhan and Nor Azlan Bakar allowed AIS an easy 3-2 win.
The first half was fast and furious and tempers flared as both sides
made attempts at goal.
But after an uncalled for infringement in the fifth minute which
resulted in a penalty stroke, Malaysia were doomed.
A through pass by Graig Davis from the centre found an unmarked Travis Brooks at the top of the semicircle, who turned to hammer home but a charging Izwan Suhardi brought him down. The umpire blew for a penalty stroke.
Michael McCann sent Izwan stretching for a save but the ball missed his
palms by inches for the Aussies to take the lead.
Ten minutes into play and Malaysia still could not break past the
Aussies' 25-yard line while the AIS players were having a gala time in the
Malaysian semicircle.
Only bad luck stopped them from surging ahead. In the final minutes of
the first half, Malaysia were awarded their first penalty corner but Kuhan
pushed wide.
After the breather, Kaliswaran received a pass from K. Logan Raj in the
38th minute for a reverse stick goal which injected some semblance of
cohesion into the Malaysian game.
After playing like champions in the next few minutes, a mistake by the
defenders saw McCann create an opening for Craig Victory to send his team ahead.
In the 62nd minute, Chairil Anwar dribbled past two players in the
middle of the pitch and sent the ball to an unmarked Kaliswaran to place
the Malaysians on level again.
The match belonged to Malaysia after that but in the 65th minute,
Victory tapped in his second and AIS' third.
The fourth friendly will be played at 9am tomorrow.
(END)