Malaysia beat South Africa 6-4

MALAYSIA lived dangerously but still managed to beat South Africa 6-4 in Group B of the World Hockey League Semi-finals at the Taman Daya Stadium in Johor Baru yesterday.
  Cheered on by a capacity crowd of 3,500, with drums and constant singing, Paul Revington's men showed that they could upset the formbook when they collected full points in a nerve-wrecking match.
  Malaysia played just like they did in the 4-4 draw against Pakistan when they went for early goals against South Africa and were rewarded for their tireless efforts.
  Upfront, Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin and Faizal Saari tore the South African defense with ease and won the first penalty corner in the fourth minute.
  Cheered on by a capacity crowd, Faizal drove the ball at the back of the net for the lead.
  And a wave of attacks after that saw Chua Boon Huat win the third penalty corner, and this time Razie Rahim perfected the drag flick for a 2-0 lead in the 15th minute.
  However, the South Africans were allowed back into the game as Malaysia kept giving away penalty corners, and were punished in the 26th minute.
  Jethro Eustice made it count, and Malaysia were in danger of losing the script again, as they trooped into the dressing room with a one-goal advantage.
  The Africans came charging out fully recharged after the breather, and drew level with a quick freak goal in the 37th minute.
  Wade Paton picked up a loose ball at the top of the semi-circle, and sent in a thundering shot which grazed goalkeeper S. Kumar's shoulders and went sailing in for the equaliser.
  Malaysia managed to compose their nerves after that, and started playing their normal game again and were rewarded with the fourth penalty corner in the 46th minute.
  And Razie gave Malaysia the lead again by scoring his fourth goal of the tournament.
  Faizal Saari then gave the cheering crowd reason to celebrate again as he darted a good 20 meters before slamming in the fourth goal in the 54th minute.
  However, even before the celebrations could end, South Africa scored their third goal off a field attempt by Miguel da Garca in the 56th minute.
  But not to be outdone by his brother Faizal, Fitri Saari then got into the act with a super reverse stick from an acute angle which went crashing into the net for a 5-3 lead in the 58th minute.
  And the gates opened up as Izwan Firdaus was manhandled in the semi-cirlce just as he was about to score and Malaysia were awarded a penalty stroke but Razie Rahim failed to convert.
  But Marhan Jalil made sure victory for Malaysia with a field attempt in the 63rd minute.
  Timothy Drummond scored in the 69th minute for South Africa for a final tally of 6-4.

GROUP A

          P  W  D  L  F  A  Pts
ARGENTINA 2  1  1  0  8  2  4
GERMANY   2  1  1  0  6  1  4
S KOREA   2  0  1  1  3  8  1
JAPAN     2  0  1  1  4  10 1


GROUP B

           P  W  D  L  F  A  Pts
MALAYSIA   2  1  1  0  10 8  4
PAKISTAN   2  0  2  0  6  6  2
ENGLAND    2  0  2  0  5  5  2
S AFRICA   2  0  1  1  7  9  1

  RESULTS: Group A: Argentina 7 Japan 1, Korea 0 Germany 5.
 Group B: Pakistan 2 England 2, South Africa 4 Malaysia 6.
  TODAY: REST DAY
  TOMORROW: Group A: Germany v Japan (3pm), Argentina v Korea (5pm).
  Group B: England v Malaysia (7pm), South Africa v Pakistan (9pm).