Negri off to good start

Division Two (Group A): Project 2017 1 Perlis 2, Selangor 10 Kelantan 2. Group B: Sarawak 1 Sabah 3, Negri 4 Kedah 1.

Malacca (July 23): Negri Sembilan got off to a flying start in their bid to capture the Division Two crown of the 100PLUS Tun Abdul Razak hockey tournament at the Bukit Serendit stadium here today.

With the help of three penalty corner conversions, Negri Sembilan beat Kedah 4-1 in their opening Pool B match today and the warning from them is loud and clear.

They are a side packed with enough experience and in their skipper Mohd Marhan Mohd Jalil, Negeri have a reliable anchorman who can steer them to safety, when needed.

In fact it was Mohd Marhan who put Negeri on the road to victory with an eighth minute penalty corner conversion which gave the team the inspiration to lift their game to the required heights.

Although Kedah equalised in the 18th minute via a penalty corner conversion from Nur Hrsikesa Murni, it was Negri Sembilan who sailed through comfortably to add three more goals for a comfortable win.

Mohd Asraf Zulzali's field goal in the 24th minute; and penalty corner conversions from T.Ganeisha and G.Kavin Kartik in the 33rd and 48th minutes respectively, sealed Kedah's fate.

"It's always important to start off with a win but it will get tougher. I believe Sabah and Sarawak, our two other opponents will not make things easy for us. And neither am I thinking it would be any easier against them.

"But I happy that the experienced players in the team are showingt the way and helping the younger ones settle down," said Negri's coach S.Chandran.

In the other Pool B match of Division Two, Sabah beat their neighbours, Sarawak 3-1. Jadiel Sadi scored a field goal in the second minute and Mohd Shariffini Muhammad and D. Michael Plani added penalty corner goals in the fifth and 11th minutes respectively.

Sarawak's solitary goal came from Mero Muhammad Ridwan in the 58th min via a field goal.

In a Division Two Pool A match, Perlis beat the Project 2017 team 2-1 with their goals coming from ex-international Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin Jalil in the 16th and 49th minutes while the Project 2017's scorer was Muhammad Fahmi Asri Amir in the 49th minute.

Selangor also got off to a heartwarming start with a 10-2 thrashing of Kelantan in their Division Two Pool A match.

They led 4-1 at the break with their goals scored by Noor Mohammad Othman in the second min via a penalty corner and then Norisham Shaari added two more in the 15th and 21st minutes and Faridzul Afiq Mohammad in the 32nd minute.

Kelantan got their only goal of the first period from Sharul Anuar Ibrahim in the 26th minute.

The second half goal scorers for Selangor were Mohd Syakir Hamzah (50th), Noor Mohamamd Othman (54t); Muhammad Amerullah Abdul Aziz(55th and 64th); Faisal Kamaruddin (60th) and Fadrizul Afiq Mohammad(69th). Kelantan's Abdul Laziz Ghani scored the team's second goal in the 36th minute.

By http://www.malaysiahockey.com.my/razakcup/