Ayappa can make it happen for Andersen

10/05/2002

WHEN Andersen Sports Club meet Tenaga Nasional Bhd in the Malaysia Hockey
League match-of-the-week today, one man can make the difference and erase
their 4-2 defeat in the first round.
He has scored 22 goals in the MHL to date, but back home in India, Len
Ayappa is a noboby. Actually, India consider him a machine to train
goalkeepers because they do not have a portable gadget used by other
countries.
The deadly penalty corner drag flicker has single-handedly placed
Andersen on a good stead with 27 points, but his story back home is a
heart breaking one.
He went to Australia with the Indian team for the Sydney Olympics, but
was dropped and sent home before the Games started. For the Kuala Lumpur
World Cup, he was in Ipoh for the last Indian camp, but again, he was sent
home - after testing the goalkeepers in penalty corners.
Andersen coach K. Dharmaraj said he signed Len for a simple reason.
"I wanted somebody who is bitter enough that he will give his best when
given a chance to play. And when I heard that Len was dropped at the 11th-
hour from the Sydney Olympics and the KL World Cup team, I made up my mind
to give him a chance.
"I have never regretted my decision, although many told me earlier that
he is a bad buy. But then he has scored in all our matches," said
Dharmaraj.
And against an unbeaten Tenaga, Len will need to be at his `bitter best'
because the electric boys are super swift in counter attacks.
"Tenaga can be beaten, they are not invincible. But my men need to play
total hockey for 70 minutes because Tenaga are so fast in the counter
attacks, that one silp from my side is enough for them to score," said
Dharmaraj.
Tenaga have only let in 11 goals from 12 matches and have scored 52, the
menacing statistics indicate that Andersen have a slim chance of
collecting three points today.
The Tenaga defence, marshalled by Nor Azlan Bakar and Nor Saiful Zaini,
can turn into strikers in a jiffy and that has been their secret recipe
for their overwhelming success in the MHL.
While Tenaga, Sapura and Andersen have staked a strong claim for the
semifinals, the fourth spot is still a toss between Bank Simpanan Nasional
and Maybank.
BSN, with Pakistanis Kashif Jawad and Sohail Abbas in their side, have
not been playing up to their mark but should be able to pull off three
points against Royal Malay Regiment today.
After that, they meet Sapura on Sunday and wrap up their League fixtures
against Maybank and Tenaga next weekend.
BSN coach C. Paramalingam has been having midfield trouble but I.
Vikneswaran has since improved his game - now the forwards have not been
scoring.
"We have a good set of forwards in Kashif and Rodhanizam Radzi, but they
are not clicking well. Now that we can't afford to drop any points in the
last four matches, I hope the forwards starts functioning better," said
Paramalingam.
(END)