Malaysia’s Dangerous Lee (left) is challenged by Thailand’s Sakprasert Seemarak in their match at the 2nd Asean Schools Games at the Tun Razak Stadium yesterday. — Picture by Osman AdnanMALAYSIA needed to get off on the right footing towards achieving their hefty 50 gold medal target in the 2nd Asean Schools Games in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, and the hockey team did just that with a 10-goal spree in their two opening matches.
The morning presented what was an unpredictable obstacle against Indonesia, which coach S. Prakash’s charges had no problems walking away with a thumping 5-0 victory at the Tun Razak Stadium.
While awaiting their second match in the evening, Malaysia watched a potentially dangerous Singapore hand minnows Brunei a 8-0 thrashing, something which Prakash is wary of.
A lethargic Malaysia, led by captain S. Kavin Kartik, then overcame a nervous start against a wily Thai side, who pinned them back in the opening five minutes.
The Thais were energetic, making up for what they lacked in technical ability with hard running, but were let down by poor basic skills of their forwards’ poor basic skills despite creating several decent opportunities.
Fears of the unexpected were calmed when Mohd Amirudin Zain udin opened the scoring in the with an 18th minute, after receiving a pass on the right flank from Shahril Sa’abah who had just replaced Dangerous Lee Matthew a minute earlier.
Dangerous, who was shortly back on the pitch, was the focal point of most Malaysian attacks but squan dered several chances, particularly what was an easy connection from an Amirudin cross in the 25th minute which he tapped right into Thai goal keeper Chaturonk Paengpie.
Shortly before half-time, Malaysia doubled the score after some good individual work from Faridzul Afiq Muhamad who laid yed on a pass for Mohd Taufik Abdul Hamid to slot into an empty goal.
The half-time pep-talk from Prakash seemed to centre around the indecisive frontline, who often took too much time on the ball, allowing the Thais to close them down.
And despite the second half being a rain-drenched affair, it provided a show of improvement with more incisive attacks resulting in three more goals, the first of which came via a 42nd minute penalty corner connection from Mohd Aslam Hanafiah.
The hard-working Dangerous was finally rewarded with his first goal of the tournament when he connected to a 48th minute pass from Mohd Taufik, and the scoring was completed amidst heavy rain in the 52nd minute when Shahril slotted home a penalty corner.
“We were a little disorganised in the game against Thailand because the boys were a little lethargic having already played in the morning,” said Prakash.
“What’s important to note is that all the Asean sides are very much improved. We can no longer look at them as easy opponents. We had to work hard and make some corrections before we overcame Thailand by that score.”
Malaysia play what could be the deciding match in the round robin opening round against Singapore at 5pm today.
New Straits Times
