Amin brace takes TNB to the top

By Ajitpal Singh

AMIN Rahim’s brace helped Tenaga Nasional (TNB) earn a 3-0 victory over minnows ATM-Airod in a Premier Division match of the Malaysian Hockey League (MHL) at the Tun Razak Stadium yesterday.
Amin, a national player, struck in the 12th and 62nd minutes, both from penalty corners while the other goal was scored by M. Kaliswaran (61st).
Tenaga, who have collected seven points from three matches, lead the league standings by a point.
Coach Nor Saiful Zaini said his boys controlled the game and could have scored a big win.
“The Forces side made it difficult especially their goalkeeper Khairul Affendy Kamarulzaman, who made several good saves,” said Nor Saiful at the Tun Razak Stadium yesterday.
“We, however, knew Forces would crack in the closing stages and we pressed hard to score two goals in the last 10 minutes.”
At the Pantai Stadium, the Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) defeated Yayasan Negri Sembilan (YNS) 6-3 in an exciting match which ended in a scuffle after the final whistle.
The defending champions have been devastating in the last two matches. On Friday, they hammered Sapura 6-2.
KLHC striker Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin said his team are eager to score big wins in the remaining matches as the league title, at the end of the season, could be decided on goal difference.
“We created many goal scoring chances today (yesterday) but failed to score and this is not good,” said Tengku Ahmad.
In the match, YNS opted to play their local keeper Hafizi Baharom in their line up instead of import T. Tarun and also were without two of their Pakistani imports, Muhammad Waqas and Muhammad Raashid.
Waqas failed to get a visa on time and will arrive today while Raashid is only expected to come on Thursday as his passport has run out of pages. And their absence was sorely felt.
“We made a bright start but failed to capitalise on it and paid the price. We missed the two players but that cannot be an excuse as we have players that can deliver,” said YNS coach Hasnizam Ah Sim.
KLHC scorers were Mohd Razie Rahim (eight, 24th, 65th), Tengku Ahmad (fifth), Ismail Abu (40th) and Chua Boon Huat (60th).
Prabhjot Singh (third, 29th) and Deepak Thakur (69th) reduced the deficit for YNS.
After the match, four players were involved in a brawl which lasted for several minutes but the umpire and team members managed to defuse the situation.
In another match, Maybank eased past UiTM 2-0 for their maiden league win this season.
Hafifihafiz Hanaif and Hairulnizam Rani scored the 33rd and 62nd minutes respectively.