BSN through to semis with late effort

18/05/2002

BSN ............ 3 Maybank ........ 2
Tenaga ......... 7 BCB ............ 1
Andersen SC .... 6 Navy ........... 0
BANK Simpanan Nasional (BSN) made a last minute dash and were rewarded
with the last semifinal spot in the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL)
yesterday.
Although Maybank scored two early goals at the Tun Razak Stadium, BSN
got their act together in the second half, and secured the last semifinal
ticket. Sapura, who have one match in hand, had already clinched their
ticket earlier.
The other teams in the semis are Tenaga Nasional, Sapura and Andersen
Sports Club.
Now, BSN coach T. Paramalingam wants to beat Tenaga Nasional in their
last League match tomorrow to avoid them in the semifinals.
"It was a close match, but in the end we made it with true grit.
Otherwise, it would have been a disaster if we had been bundled out of the
semifinals because we have invested so much in the team," said
Paramalingam.
And the defending Overall Champions' investment in the Pakistani duo of
Sohail Abbas and Kashif Jawad paid off handsomely as Sohail scored a hat-
trick to seal the match. Kashif played a minor role yesterday because he
had fever and was on-and-off the bench replacing Rodhanizam Radzi in short
periods.
Maybank, knowing very well that they will be doomed if they lose the
match, took the early initiative and in the 12th minute, they were
rewarded with a penalty corner. K. Gobinathan took a tame shot but it
bounced past the runners and goalkeeper Roslan Jamaluddin into the
goalmouth.
The goal spurred Maybank and a minute later, they won another penalty
corner and again, Gobinathan took a low shot and it sounded the board to
the surprise of about 100-odd BSN fans at the stadium.
But in the 20th minute, BSN got their first penalty corner and Sohail
sent the ball crashing into the net.
In the second half, BSN got their act together and Sohail delivered two
more penalty corner goals in the 45th and 61st minutes to seal the match.
BSN coach Paramalingam paid tribute to his players fighting spirit.
"The forwards are still not working well and that is why we have to rely
heavily on Sohail for the goals. But overalll, I am happy with the way the
players came from two goals down to beat Maybank," said Paramalingam.
Maybank coach Wallace Tan said that his men peaked too early.
"Against a team like BSN, who have a good penalty corner flicker, it was
a mistake to score too early. We tried to minimise the penalty corners but
even then, Sohail managed to score three," said Wallace.
The match was not an exciting one because BSN had only five penalty
corners and four clear shots at goal while Maybank had two penalty corners
and only two clear shots.
In the other match, League champions Tenaga Nasional made minced meat
out of Bumiputra-Commerce Bank by slamming home seven goals to extend
their unbeaten record to 15 matches.
Today: Sapura v Andersen Sports Club (National Hockey Stadium, 5.30pm),
RAMD v Jolly Lads Sports Club (Tun Razak Stadium, 5.30pm).
Tomorrow: Sapura v Jolly Lads Sports Club (National Hockey Stadium,
5.30pm), Navy v RAMD (Tun Razak Stadium, 5.30pm), Tenaga Nasional v Bank
Simpanan Nasional (Kuala Lumpur Hockey Stadium, 6pm), Bumiputra-Commerce
Bank v Maybank (KL Hockey Stadium, 8pm).
(END)