Perak outclass KL

27/01/2003

DEFENDING champions Kuala Lumpur finally tasted defeat when they were
outclassed 3-1 by Perak in their final National Under-21 Group A match at
the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.
KL and Perak finished the preliminary round with 15 points but KL,
thanks to a better goal difference, topped the table while Perak finished
second KL will meet Pahang in the semi-final while Perak will meet New
South Wales AIS in the other tie today.
Nobody expected Perak to beat KL. And right after the match, KL coach
Nor Saiful Zaini handed his players a tongue-lashing.
Now Perak have an outside chance of repeating the feat they achieved in
1999 when they lifted the title in Ipoh.
"I am very disappointed with the way they played today (yesterday).
Nothing went right for us because they did not play to form, especially
our experienced players Tajol Rosli and Azlan Misron," said Nor Saiful.
Perak coach P. Balachandran told his boys to forget about the pressure
of making the semi-finals, and play like they were in the final itself.
"Before the match, the statistics indicated that two other teams also
had the chance of reaching the semis if we failed, so I told them to treat
this match like it was the final and it paid off," said Balachandran.
The coach paid tribute to Fazreen Ehsan Kulub, Abbas Nekmat and Riduan
Nasir who had an excellent match yesterday.
"The three players were instrumental in our win today. Our goalkeeper
Mohamed Fitri also made some spectatcular saves and I hope they play the
same in the semis," said Balachandran.
Riduan Nasir of Perak cracked the KL goalmouth with a field goal in the
sixth minute, and before KL could settle down, B. Chandramohan increased
the lead.
KL reduced the gap in the 37th minute off a Tajol Rosli field goal but
they could not get their act together - with the post coming to Perak's
aid in the numerous penalty corners they received.
And Fazreen Ehsan Kulub sealed a place in the semi-finals with a 68th
minute field goal.
Pahang beat Negri Sembilan 1-0 in the last match of the day to confirm
their semi-final slot.
Pahang played one of the worst matches of the tournament and there was
hardly any exciting moves in the entire 70 minutes.
The Pahang goal was scored by Al Fadhir Kassim in the 40th minute.
RESULTS AT A GLANCE
JOHOR...........................9 ARMED FORCES..................0
Baljit Singh (11th)
Abdul Hafez Razak (20th)
Hamzaid Mokhtar (23rd)
Fikri Bassir (25th, 34th)
Noor Wahi Ismail (50th, 52nd, 64th)
S. Yogeswaran (68th)
PENANG..........................5 SELANGOR......................0
Fauzi Rahim (10th, 18th, 30th, 39th)
M. Yuvaraj (63rd)
PERAK...........................4 KUALA LUMPUR...................1
Riduan Nasir (6th) Tajol Rosli (37th)
B. Chandramohan (23rd)
Fazreen Ehsan Kulub (68th)
NWS AIS.........................5 PERLIS........................1
Dane Petit (19th, 47th) Amerullah Aziz (27th)
Mathew Naylor (53rd)
Joel Reeves (69th)
Eli Matheson (70th)
SINGAPORE.......................1 KELANTAN......................2
Ishak Ismail (41st) Hafriz Aliff Zaid (23rd)
Azuan Lewi (34th)
PAHANG..........................1 N. SEMBILAN...................0
Al Fadhir Kassim (40th)
(END)