Stuttering Malaysians edge Japan

19/01/2002

MALAYSIA had plenty of open chances against Japan in the Six-Nation at the
National Hockey Stadium yesterday but poor finishing was what irritated
the fans most.
Starting on a slow note in the first half, Malaysia took pot shots at
the Japanese goal in the second half but in the end, only managed to edge
Japan by a slim margin.
But since this is a warm-up towards the 2002 Kuala lumpur World Cup,
they can be excused for some glaring blunders which they made up with
flashes of brilliance.
Coach Paul Lissek tried a maximum number of variations against Japan
yesterday and the Malaysian team did look much better even though most of
the players were seen playing in positions alien to them.
Nor Azlan Bakar was on the starting lineup but five minutes into the
match, he was taken out and replaced with K. Gobinathan.
Gobinathan did a good job of marshalling the defence with Maninderjit
Singh in the first five minutes but after that, the duo gave away too many
penalty corners through silly mistakes in the semicircle.
In the 10th minute, K.Keevan Raj made a dash on the right and then ran
along the goalline before making a pass to Mirnawan Nawawi.
The Boss made an attempt at goal and Japanese goalkeeper Jun Takahashi
sat on the ball and Malaysia were awarded a penalty stroke. Chua Boon Huat
stepped up to the spot and his low flick beat Jun and Malaysia found
themselves ahead.
Japan played better after findling themselves a goal down and won
numerous penalty corners, of which they scored two but the umpire
disallowed both and signalled that the ball was too high.
Keevan was at times shaky in midfield, a position he took over after S.
Kuhan was dropped because of a hamstring injury, but in the later part of
the second half he started looking more comfortable and his passes were
accurate and found the forwards but poor finishing was the order of the
day.
Three minutes into the second half, Malaysia were punished for taking
the match lightly when Japanese skipper Takahiko Yamabori scored a field
goal to equalise.
Chua came to Malaysia's rescue after a hard-won penalty corner in the
62nd minute.
His first flick rebounded off dangerously off Jun's pads and the umpire
awarded another penalty corner and this time his low and powerful flick
sounded the board and there was reason for the fans to start blowing their horns again.
AT A GLANCE
AUSTRALIA 4 NEW ZEALAND 2
McCann 22nd, 26th, Leaver 40th,
Dwyer 60th, 70th Burrows 56th
MALAYSIA 2 JAPAN 1
Chua Boon Huat 10th, 62nd Takahiko Yamabori 38th
PAKISTAN 3 HOLLAND 0
Kashif Jawad 10th,
Saqlain Mohamed 24th,
Sohail Abas 63rd
jugjet@nstp.com.my
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