Randburg misery continues

21/07/2003

Malaysia ..................1 New Zealand .....................1
South Korea ...............3 Spain ...........................2
England....................2 South Africa ....................0
RANDBURG: Malaysia held New Zealand to a 1-1 draw in the Champions
Challenge at the Randburg hockey Stadium here in South Africa yesterday to
keep their hopes alive.
The match belonged to the Malaysians but Tajol Rosli, who normally takes
his chances well in the circle, missed four sitters, forcing Malaysia to
share the points.
Malaysia adopted a defensive approach by fielding four players at the
back - Amin Rahim, K. Gobinathan, S. Kuhan and Nor Azlan Bakar - and the
gameplan worked as the Kiwis became extremely frustrated as the match
progressed.
It took New Zealand 18 minutes before they could test Malaysia's second
choice goalkeeper S. Kumar as Roslan Jamaluddin, who had a poor game
against the South Africans on Saturday, was benched yesterday.
Everything went well for Malaysia from the start with coach Paul Lissek
opting for Amin instead of striker Azlan Misron.
The Kiwis, who did not field penalty corner specialist Hayden Shaw who
is down with a stomach strain, were awarded a penalty corner in the first
half but Ryan Archibald's attempt was palmed away by Kumar.
However, a defensive error in the 32nd minute saw the Malaysians trail
by a goal.
It started when New Zealand were awarded a free hit outside the semi-
circle and just as all 11 Malaysians clamoured for position, Gareth Brooks
took advantage of the situation by taking a quick shot over Kumar's
shoulders.
Malaysia had four open chances at the New Zealand goalmouth but Tajol
Rosli, Riduan Nasir and Saiful Azli blew it.
And five minutes after resumption, Fairuz Ramli took the full force of a
clearance and had to be stretchered out. The medical team took almost five
minutes to strap a neck brack before taking him to hospital.
It took Ismail Abu to score for Malaysia in the 55th minute with a
reverse stick shot which sailed past goalkeeper Paul Woolford for the
face-saving equaliser.
In other matches, South Korea stunned Spain 3-2 while England defeated
South Africa 2-0.
Lee Jung Seon was the toast of the Koreans as he rallied his team-mates
in a tough encounter against the Spaniards and then notched a hat-trick to
keep their hopes alive.
The Spaniards, fresh from their 6-2 demolition of England on Saturday,
found the Koreans in an uncompromising mood.
But on the rare occasion that they did cross the 25-yard line in the
fifth minute, Eduard Tubau dribbled past goalkeeper Ko Dong Sik and tucked
in the ball.
But that was as far as they went in the first half as the Korean
defenders closed ranks.
The Koreans piled on the pressure and received their third penalty
corner in the 47th minute.
Lee Jung Seong's flicked the ball past the goalkeeper. And when the
Koreans were awarded the fourth penalty corner eight minutes later, they
celebrated first before Lee flicked it home to give them a 2-1 lead.
The Spaniards clawed back into the game through Xavi Ribas in the 65th
minute with a low flick from a penalty corner.
South Korea made the most of the attacks after that, and Lee notched his
hat-trick when he pounced on a penalty corner rebound in the 64th minute.
England's win over South Africa has thrown the tournament wide open.
(END)