SAPURA Hockey Club lived dangerously, before Dangerous Lee handed them the inaugural Tan Sri P. Alagendra Cup at the Tun Razak Stadium Tuesday.
The match was heading towards a shoot-out, but the Dangerous goal beat Tenaga Nasional 2-1 and also gave Sapura a RM70,000 purse.
"We held onto the match because of good defending, especially in the third quarter when Tenaga came charging at us. Winning the inaugural Alagendra Cup has also charged up my players to go all out for the Premier Division League title
"If we do well against Terengganu Hockey Team, the league title could also become ours," said Sapura coach Yahya Atan, whose team top the standings.
Amin Rahim, a dejected Tenaga coach, said: "We failed to score the penalty stroke and that was the turning point of the match. Losing 2-1 to Sapura for the third time this season is also a jinx (Sapura won twice with the same score in the Premier Division home-and-away)."
Tenaga, who received RM30,000, had the early chances but blew a handful until they won the first penalty corner in the 10th minute. Syed Syafiq Cholan's attempt hit a defenders foot and a penalty stroke was awarded.
Syed stepped to the spot, but his flick was stopped by Sapura goalkeeper Hairi Rahman.
And just as the first quarter's end approached, Sapura won their first penalty corner and this time Firhan Ashaari pusged low to beat Tenaga goalkeeper S. Kumar for the lead.
At the half-time break, two former national players received their rewards from Yayasan Hockey Malaysia. Megat Azrafiq (139 caps, 12 years) and Hafifi Hafiz (140 caps, 10 years) received RM16,850 and RM15,500 respectively for their years of playing for the country.
Alagendra, trustee of the Yayasan, presented them with the cheques.
Tenaga came out fighting after the breather and after a few missed chances, they finally scored the equaliser in the 43rd minute.
Off a botched penalty corner attempt, Shahril Saabah slammed home a reverse stick shot to give his mates a big boost.
However, the final touch to claim the trophy belonged to Dangerous Lee who sent in a cracker to the top of the net in the 53rd minute to hand Sapura the inaugural Alagendra trophy.
