Juniors hold defending champs Tenaga

NATIONAL Juniors held TNB-Cup defending champions Tenaga Nasional to a 1-1 draw in the first leg, quarter-finals of the Malaysia Hockey League yesterday.
In the another qurter-finals, Ernst & Young blasted Royal Malay Regiment 12-0, while Sapura beat Jurulatih Jentera 5- 0, to virtually book their semi-finals tickets with a match in hand.
National juniors grabbed the bull by the horns in the first half, and were rewarded with a penalty stroke, which was slickly tucked in for a well derseved lead.
The clock showed five minutes remaining on the first half, when the juniors mounted a concerted effort and Izwan Firdaus took a slap shot at goal, but the ball hit Tenaga defender Amin Rahim's foot, and the umpire blew for a penalty stroke.
Nor Hafiq Ghaffar flicked in high to the left of National No 1 goalkeeper S. Kumar's right, and the Juniors were in the driving seat.
But the joy was shortlived, as Tenaga equalised right after the re-start. The Juniors were caught napping, and the ball reached Tajol Rosli, who scored the equaliser off a reverse stick attempt.
Jolted by the soft goal, Juniors started attacking in num bers, but poor finishing was the order of the day, and they even wasted the handful of penalty corners that came their way.
And the Juniors went into deeper misery when Izwan was flashed the yellow card, and they were reduced to a 10-man outfit with five minutes remaining.
But they held on grimly to the draw, and lived to fight on in the return leg.
RESULTS: Q-finals, 1st Leg: Ernst & Young 12 RMR 0, Tenaga Nasional 1 National Juniors 1, JLJ 0 Sapura 5.
Return Leg - Sunday: RMR v Ernst & Young (Tun Razak, 5pm), National Juniors v Tenaga Nasional (National Stadium, 5pm), Sapura v JLJ (KLHA Stadium, 5pm); Dec 13: Maybank v Nur Isnafi (Seremban II, 5pm).
Q-finals, 1st Leg: Dec 10: Nur Insafi v Maybank (Penang, 5pm).