Monday, August 4, 2008

Juniors lose their cool

LACK of discipline saw National Juniors lose 2-1 to Perak in Division One of the Razak Cup at the Tun Razak Stadium yesterday.
The Juniors were more interested in arguing with umpires decisions, and Razlee Amree was even banned a match for manhandling umpire K. Lingam.
The incident happened after Perak scored their second goal off a penalty corner rebound. Razlee charged at Lingam and blocked his path after he blew for goal, and the umpire ignored him but did not take out his cards.
However, the technical desk which witnessed the incident, handed Razlee a one-match suspension after the match had ended.
"I am disappointed with their lack of discipline in this match, and gave them a stern warning not to argue with umpires anymore. I will not hesitate to show the door, to any player who is more interested in arguing than playing," said Juniors coach K. Rajan.
Perak took the lead off Hafifi Hafiz’s field goal in the 10th minute, but Razlee scored the equaliser in a 17th minute penalty corner attempt.
But Perak, last year’s silver medallists, collected full points when Azli Misron scored off a penalty corner rebound in the 52nd minute.
"We are not here to win the tournament. I am more interested to see how they perform as an attacking outfit. And after the tournament, I will work on their fitness, and I am confident that they will turn into better players," said Rajan.

STANDINGS


DIVISION ONE
P W D L F A Pts
KUALA LUMPUR 3 3 0 0 6 2 9
NEGRI SEMBILAN 2 2 0 0 8 2 6
PERAK 2 1 0 1 3 3 3
JOHOR 3 0 2 1 3 5 2
ARMED FORCES 3 0 2 1 5 7 2
JUNIORS 2 0 1 1 2 3 1
MALACCA 3 0 1 2 4 10 1


DIVISION TWO
P W D L F A PTS
PENANG 3 3 0 0 21 5 9
SELANGOR 2 2 0 0 8 2 6
PERLIS 1 1 0 0 2 1 3
POLICE 1 0 0 1 3 7 0
SINGAPORE 2 0 0 2 2 7 0
KELANTAN 3 0 0 3 3 17 0

RESULTS: Division One: Perak 2 National Juniors 1, Armed Forces 2 Malacca 2, Johor 0 Kuala Lumpur 2.
Division Two: Penang 10 Kelantan 2, Singapore 2 Selangor 3.
TODAY: Division One: National Juniors v Kuala Lumpur (4pm), Negri Sembilan v Johor (6pm), Perak v Armed Forces (8pm).
Division Two: Perlis v Police (7.30am), Singapore v Ke lantan (9.15pm).

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).