Negri hammer Malacca

FORMER national skipper S. Kuhan's hat-trick helped Negri Sembilan pull off a stunning 6-1 win over Malacca in Division One of the Razak Cup at the Tun Razak Stadium yesterday.
In another Division One match, Kuala Lumpur beat Perak 2-1 to keep pace with Negri on nine points after twomatches.
Negri, who beat Armed Froces 2-1 on Saturday, started the rout with a seventh minute penalty corner executed by Kuhan.
But Malacca equalised in the 13th minute, when Ariffin Dollah sounded the board off a field attempt.
Kuhan again gave Negri the lead with a 17th minute penalty corner flick, and the rest of the goals came easy. Suhaimi Ibrahim (20th, 42nd), K. Amuthan (57th) and Kuhan 60th, handed the three points to Negri.
"We played much better as an outfit as compared to the first match (against Armed Forces), and are now looking forward to a good outing in the rermaining matches," said Negri coach Jailani Sulaiman.
Former national player Suhaimi Ibrahim was at his element, while No 1 goalkeeper S. Kumar was kept busy by Malacca strikers, but held firm.
"We have a well balanced team this year, but still, I predict the remaining matches will not be as easy as Malacca. We have a rest day tomorrow (today) and it will give us some time to plan for the tough match against Johor (on Tuesday)," said Jailani.
Meanwhile, Kuala Lumpur found Perak a tough nut to crack in the first half, but a brace from former national player Amin Rahim in the 47th and 58th minutes was enough for three points. Perak scored their consolation in the 70th minute off an Azlan Misron field attempt.
"We won both our matches narrowly (on Saturday KL beat Malacca 2-1), but all my players are experienced, and should play better as a team in the remaining matches," said Kuala Lumpur coach K. Dharmaraj.
RESULTS -- Division One: Negri Sembilan 6 Malacca 1, Perak 1 Kuala Lumpur 2, Armed Forces 2 Johor 2.
Division Two: Singapore 0 Penang 4, Selantan 1 Perlis 2.
Today: Division One: Perak v National Juniors (4pm), Armed Forces v Malacca (6pm), Johor v Kuala Lumpur (8pm).