KL bow out in explosive final

29/01/2003

NSW AIS ............6 Kuala Lumpur .........5
IT was a heart-stopping final and when the horn sounded, the National
Under-21 title was on its way to Australia as Kuala Lumpur rued their
missed chances.
KL forgot to defend and in their haste to score more goals, eventhough
they had a two-goal cushion, paid dearly for their gung-ho style of play.
KLHA president Tan Sri Noordin Hassan summed up the match: "I am very
happy with the way the boys played. We lost because of poor umpiring."
NSW AIS were so eager to start the match and catch their flight home to
Australia, that they started the match while the umpires were still
signalling each other.
It was evident from the start that the teams were physically mis-
matched, but fitness and speed-wise, KL had the upper hand.
NSW AIS held possession and waited for KL to make a mistake. It paid off
in the seventh minute when Sturt Fletcher found himself alone at the top
of the semi-circle, his thundering shot catching KL goalkeeper Hanafi
Hassan napping.
NSW AIS increased their lead in the 23rd minute off their first penalty
corner.
A direct flick from Brendon Booth, which the Aussies used for the first
time in the tournament, caught goalkeeper Hanafi off guard and it looked
like another disaster in the making.
KL refused to be broken and Redza Maadun narrowed the gap by slicing in
a field goal in the 28th minute.
KL won their fourth penalty corner in the dying minutes of the first
half and this time the ball was slapped in by captain and pusher Azlan
Misron. However, umpire Amargi Singh blew for no goal much to the
disbelief of everyone.
The reason: Azlan did not deflect the ball in, but slapped it and it did
not sound the board, so it was not a goal.
Though robbed of the equaliser, KL went into the dressing room looking
very confident.
In striking orange strip, KL came out charging as soon as the match
resumed but the Aussies read their plan well to defend in numbers.
As the Aussies found the the speedy KL boys a handful, they used their
bigger physique to win 50-50 chances.
The umpire was at the right position to see Stuart push Tajol Rosli at
the top of the semi-circle to award KL a penalty corner in the 38th
minute.
The first shot by Engku Abdul Malek hit an Aussie leg, and the umpire
blew for a second penalty corner.
This time, Engku's powerful direct grounder crashed the board and KL
were back in the hunt.
In the 41st minute, a beautiful move originating with Azlan, found Tajol
who unselfishly passed to Kamarudin Rahman for the third goal.
Even before the Aussies could re-group, Tajol hammered a thundering back
stick shot which not only crashed the board, but came out like a bullet
right up till the 25-yard line.
The 43rd minute goal woke up the beast in the Aussies and they replied
swiftly with a Mathew Naylor field goal in the 46th minute to narrow the
gap to 3-4.
KL, in their haste to increase the lead, forgot about defending and were
punished when Jeremy Walzak equalised in the 52nd minute.
Then Engku Abdul Malek thundered in in a shot off a penalty corner in
the 59th, but the umpire blew for no goal.
NSW seized the opportunity with a long ball freeing Matthew, who left
alone in the KL semi-circle put NSW AIS in the lead again.
But even with the Aussies leading 5-4, the match was far from over.
Redza saw to it with a goal from an almost impossible angle which caught everyone by surprise and KL were back on terms.
But the day did not belong to KL.
Alex Hardman ensured the title went to Australia with a 68th minute
field goal.
ROLL OF HONOUR - Fairplay Award: New South Wales AIS, Top Goal Scorer: Tajol Rosli (KL) 10 goals, Most Promising Player: Megat Azrafiq Megat Termizi (Pah), Best Player in the Tournament: Azlan Misron (KL), Man of the Match: Engku Abdul Malek (KL).
(END)