BSN snap Tenaga's winning streak

20/05/2002

Sapura .........6 Jolly Lads .....1
Navy ...........4 RAMD ...........1
BSN ............2 Tenaga .........1
Maybank ........5 BCB ............1
BANK Simpanan Nasional (BSN) finally snapped Tenaga Nasional's unbeaten
record at the Kuala Lumpur Hockey Stadium yesterday.
But the match was more of a tactical one for Tenaga who took to the
field with an awesome 15-match unbeaten record and looking like they
prefered to meet Andersen Sports Club rather than BSN in the semifinals.In
the last 10 minutes of the match, Tenaga were more interested in
controlling the ball than going for goals.
And when the final whistle came, they got what they wanted.
The League ended yesterday and the semifinal will be held on Wednesday
with the exciting lineup of Tenaga v Andersen and BSN v Sapura. The return
leg is on Friday.
Sapura finished second in the League and picked up a RM10,000 purse when
they hammered Jolly Lads Sports Club 6-1 yesterday.
Tenaga coach K. Rajan said that he fielded his reserves and allowed some
of his regulars to rest because he was afraid they might pick up injuries
or demerit points.
"There was no reason to go all out against BSN because I did not want my
players to pick up injuries or cards. But that the first goal did shock us
and I credit BSN for putting up a good show," said Rajan.
BSN coach C. Paramalingam was happy with the win and said that, finally,
his forwards have started showing some form.
"Sohail Abbas has grown up from a defender to a player who can hold the
ball for long periods and also help in attack. I think he is now a better
player than when he played in the Kuala Lumpur World Cup for Pakistan
because we have made him more adventurous.
"Overall, I am happy with our third placing. It does not matter who we
meet in the semis because it is a different ball game," said Paramalingam.
BSN opened the scoring in the second minute when Rhodhanizam Radzi made
a good pass to Robert Alcantara who made no mistake.
Tenaga played a relaxed game and their forwards did not make any efforts
to equalise and allowed BSN to roam free in their semicircle.
BSN won a penalty corner in the 30th minute and Sohail duly flicked home
their second goal.
Tenaga pulled one back in the 59th minute when skipper Nor Saiful Zaini
hammered home a penalty corner but after that, they started toying around
with the ball.
Tenaga held the ball for long periods, even making a backpass to their
goalkeeper and the crowd sensed that they wanted to meet Andersen in the
semis rather than BSN.
The Sapura goals were scored by S. Kuhan (sixth and ninth), A. Nagarajan
(56th), Jiwa Mohan (57th), Azlin Fairuz (64th) and V. Vasandan (69th). The
jolly Lads goal was scored by Sivanantha Prasad in the 51st minute.
(END)