Fazreen to Perak's rescue

23/01/2003

PERAK had to bring out their best to edge Malacca 1-0 in Group A of the
National Under-21 tournament at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.
But Singapore, who were whipped 7-0 by Johor, also had a player red-
carded in the ill-tempered match.
Perak, playing their second match, read the Malacca game well and now
have six points. Malacca also have six points but have played three
matches.
The runners-up spot in Group A now looks like a toss between Perak and
Malacca as Kuala Lumpur, with the cream of the country's juniors, will
surely top the table.
Perak lived dangerously in the first-half and even missed a penalty
stroke but in the second, they were the better side and fully deserve the
three points.
The penalty stroke was awarded when Malacca skipper, goalkeeper Timothy
Augusto, was beaten by Fazreen Ehsan who then took a shot at goal but it
was stopped by fullback Jeffri Khamis but the ball deflected off his stick
and hit his shoulders.
The umpire awarded a penalty stroke but B. Chandramohan's attempt hit
the post and went out.
But this did not deter Perak, who seemed to play better after the missed
penalty stroke and in the 42nd minute they scored the match winner.
Fazreen dribbled past three players before side-stepping Timothy and
pushing home for the three points.
Malacca, who displayed a wide range of penalty corner variations in
their first two wins, could not get their act together as their attempts
were way off target.
Perak play Johor today, and when the coach heard that Johor had
steamrolled Singapore 7-0 on Pitch Two, he had a worried look.
A win against Johor today will almost assure Perak a semi-final ticket
as they face two weak sides in Kelantan and Armed Forces before meeting KL
in their last Group A match.
Meanwhile, Singapore played their worst match of the tournament and were
punished for being too gung-ho.
Johor scored three early goals and by half-time, they had a four-goal
cushion.
Fikri Bassir (second), Nor Azlan Din (ninth), Mohamed Nor Affazly (12th)
and Mohamed Noor Wahi (31st) were the first-half scorers while Nor Azlan
got his second in the 62nd, and Amir Hamzah completed the rout with goals
in the 65th and 69th minutes.
The red card was flashed to Singapore's Ong Kang Wee in the 66th minute
for verbally abusing umpire B. Sandragesan.
Perlis beat Negri Sembilan 3-1 and now have six points from two matches.
Perlis scored first in the 11th minute from a Amerulah Aziz field goal
only for Negri to equalise in the 17th minute through G. Vijayan. But
Perlis bounced back with goals from Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin (49th) and
Amerullah (51st).
In another match, Armed Forces beat Kelantan 3-0 with goals from Raja
Rozaipa (ninth) and Nurulamin Ahmad (47th, 66th).
RESULTS AT A GLANCE
PERAK.........................1 MALACCA.................0
Fazreen Ehsan Kulub (42nd)
JOHOR.........................7 SINGAPORE................0
Fikri Bassir (2nd)
Nor Azlan Din (9th, 62nd)
Mohamed Nor Affazly (12th)
Mohamed Noor Wahi (31st)
Amir Hamzah (65th, 69th)
PERLIS........................3 N SEMBILAN..............1
Amerullah Aziz (11th, 51st) G. Vijayan (17th)
Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin (49th)
ARMED FORCES..................3 KELANTAN................0
Raja Rozaipa (25th)
Nurulamin Ahmad (47th, 66th)
(END)