Saturday, January 10, 2009

Last five minutes costly blunders

THE National Juniors were at the verge of snatching a draw against the Australian Under-20 side yesterday, but two quick goals in the last five minutes saw them lose 3-1.
The Juniors are in Sydney to play a series of friendlies and then compete in the Australian Youth Olympic Festival (AYOF) in Sydney from Jan 14-18.
“We were down 0-1 and equalised through a penalty corner goal from Faizal Saari and were looking good for a draw, but Australia scored two goals with five minutes remaining in the match.
“However, I feel this is the best match my charges have played so far, and the fact that they were all under-20, is a positive sign,” said Juniors coach K. Rajan.
In the under-20 AYOF, Malaysia will be up against the hosts, Great Britain and India.
The Juniors had seven penalty corners yesterday, and after Faizal scored the first, Rajan used Nor Hafiq Ghaffar for the other six, which were all direct flicks.
“We did not try and set-pieces, as we will be playing this Australian side in the AYOF. And the feeling after the match, is that we will do much better in the tournament proper.
Today is a rest day, while their third friendly is against Australian Institute of Sports tomorrow.
Malaysia also lost their opening friendly 2-0 on Friday against a senior Western Australian Institute of Sports (WAIS) team.