MALAYSIA were punished in a moment of yellow-card madness as they went down 2-3 to Australia in the Sultan of Johor Cup at the Taman Daya Stadium yesterday.
The score was 2-1 in favour of Malaysia, but they lost the script when skipper Noor Faeez Ibrahim and Irwan Shazli were both yellow carded in the 50th minute, and Australia then scored two goals to take the full points.
The other madness was when Malaysia just realised yesterday that they could field all 18 players in this tournament, but the hosts did not know this and have only been fielding 16 players for the past three matches.
"This is ridiculous, as we were not informed that 18 players could be fielded in every match. We lost out as the other teams have all been fielding 18 for every match," lamented Malaysian coach K. Dharmaraj.
Malaysia did everything right for 35 minutes, but had to come from behind to score the equaliser on the half-time buzzer.
Australia only had one penalty corner to show, won in the 23rd minute, but Blake Govers made it count with a high flick to the roof.
The match was played for long periods in the Australian semi-circle, as Malaysia mounted waves of attacks, only to be denied by poor finishing.
The opportunity was there in the third minute itself, when Syamim Yusof was brought down outside the semi circle and the umpire blew for a penalty corner.
Skipper Noor Faeez Ibrahim sent in a low flick to the right low corner and Australian custodian Andrew Butturini did well to turn the ball around the upright.
Malaysia were awarded a second penalty corner in the 19th minute, and Faeez played the ball behind Amir Farid but the set piece went bust.
But seconds before the hooter blew for rest, Malaysia won another penalty corner, and this time the set-piece worked and Firhan Ashaari slammed home the equaliser.
And what a restart it was as the entire team attacked from the whistle, and Amir Farid scored from close range in the 37th minute to hand Malaysia the lead at 2-1.
There was more urgency in the Malaysian game now as they went looking to increase the lead, but lost their skipper Faeez and Irwan Shazli to yellow cards in the 50th minute for arguing with the umpire.
And Australia made use of the numbers advantage to equalise off Ogilvie Flynn in the very next minute.
And Malaysia were further punished in the 59th minute when Kane Posselt scored off their only second penalty corner to win the match.
"When you consistently play with nine and 10 players in such a crucial match, the result is obvious. And it is very cruel for the umpire to send off two of my players, when we are leading 2-1, for such a small fault.
"We had brought up the matter of different umpires from different countries interpreting the rules differently and confusing the players. But nothing was done to improve this aspect of the game.
"But that was the unfortunate part. However, we also have to blame ourselves as we won nine penalty corners but fared miserabley, but Australia won only two and scored both," said Malaysian coach K. Dharmaraj.
Meanwhile, after two consecutive defeats, Germany hammered New Zealand 5-1 with a super first half display.
The World junior champs took a 4-0 lead at half-time and then opted to slow down the pace for the remaining 35 minutes.
The German goals were scored by Jonas Gomoll (fifth, 46th), Joshua Delabar (eighth), Niklas Wellen (21st) and Fredrik Hillman (24th).
The Kiwi consolation was scored by Kane Russel (68th).
RESULTS: Germany 5 New Zealand 1, Malaysia 2 Australia 3, India 0 Pakistan 0.
TODAY: Australia v Germany (4pm), New Zealand v India (6pm), Malaysia v Pakistan (8pm).
FRIDAY: REST DAY.
STANDINGS
P W D L F A Pts
INDIA 3 2 1 0 5 1 7
AUSTRALIA 3 2 0 1 8 5 6
N ZEALAND 3 1 1 1 9 10 4
GERMANY 3 1 0 2 8 7 3
MALAYSIA 3 1 0 2 7 10 3
PAKISTAN 3 0 2 1 4 8 2
