KUALA Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) lifted their maiden Charity Shield when they edged Tenaga Nasional 2-1 in the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) curtain raiser at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil last night.
It was not much of a match, as there was hardly any excitement created by 18 national players, nine each in KLHC and Tenaga, and they looked more like they were still recovering from the Asian Champions Trophy bronze battle.
KLHC looked the better side in the first 10 minutes of the match, and Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin finally gave them something to cheer with a deft reverse stick attempt.
The clock only showed nine minutes into the match, but Tengku's reverse stick shot went crashing into the net to beat Tenaga goalkeeper S. Kumar for the lead.
However, two consecutive Shield winners Tenaga did not look rattled but kept pushing for the equaliser and it came off a goalmouth melee in the 14th minute.
KLHC goalkeeper Roslan Jamaluddin stopped the first shot from Faizal Saari, but the rebound from Fariq Saadon went crashing into the board for the equaliser.
KLHC won the only penalty corner of the first half, but Radzi Rahim's low push was easily stopped and both teams went into the dressing room to plot the second half.
KLHC were again the better side after the breather, and won their second penalty corner but still, Razie's attempt was first stopped by an onrusing Baljit Singh while his second attempt was stopped by Kumar.
However, KLHC skipper Azlan Misron took matters into his own hands, and after receiving a pass in the 48th minute, his reverse stick grounder beat Roslan to put his team in the driving seat again.
That goal was enough to hand them three valuable points, and now they are the team to beat for the League title.
"We went in looking for three points, and got what we wanted and winning the Shield for the first time has also placed us in a good positing to defend our League title," said KLHC team manager George Koshy.
KLHC next play UiTM on Wednesday, and it would most likely be a goal fest for them.
RESULTS: Division One -- Uniten 2 Ipoh City Hall 2, BJSS 1 UNIMAP 1.
Premier League -- (Charity Shield): KL Hockey Club 2 Tenaga Nasional 1.
TODAY: Division One -- SSTMI-Thunderbolt v Uniten (Education Ministry, 5pm), Ipoh City Hall v BJSS (Azlan Shah Stadium, 5pm).
Premier League: Armed Forces Airod v Sapura (National Stadium, 4pm), Uitm v UniKL (National Stadium, 6pm), Nur Insafi Penang v Yayasan Negri Sembilan (National Stadium, 8pm).
Saturday, September 17, 2011
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