Tigers bite two points off KLHC

By K. Kandiah
nstsport@nstp.com.my

MAYBANK pulled off a stunning upset when they held top- of-the-table Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) to a 2-2 draw in the Premier Division of the Malaysia Hockey League at the Universiti Sains Malaysia Stadium in Minden yesterday.
Before yesterday, the Tigers were seventh in the nine-team tournament, and were not seen as a threat to the star- studded KLHC side.
KLHC took the lead in the ninth minute when Ismail Abu collected a pass from Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin and beat Maybank goalkeeper Abdul Hakim Hassan from close range.
However, Maybank drew level in the 25th minute when Hairul Nizam slammed the ball home after a botched penalty corner and five minutes later Maybank took the lead when Ridzuan Nasir collected a loose ball from the right to beat goalkeeper Kairulnizam Ibrahim.
But just before the breather, KLHC won a penalty corner and Razie Rahim’s attempt was blocked and fell in front of Tengku Ahmad who scored the crucial equaliser and the score remained.
Maybank coach Wallace Tan said his charges worked hard for the draw: “It is an important point for us as it indicated that we are getting into our form (as they had only won one match after seven matches). We knew that it was never going to be easy against KLHC but it turned out that we could have got all three points had we taken our chances.”
“Now I am looking forward to the second round next week,” said Wallace, whose side plays Armed Forces today for the last first round match.
KLHC coach K. Dharmaraj said one point was better than none: “The tournament is just at is at its middle stage, and I am not too worried that we dropped two points.”
Dharma also lamented on the mid-day heat: “It was very hot as the match was played at 3pm. A draw is not the end of the world, at least we got a rude wake-up call.”
In another match, Sapura upset Yayasan Negri Sembilan 6- 1 to record only their third win in the tournament.
Sapura’s goals were scored by Radzhanizam Radzi (40th, 44th, 57th) Redzuan Ponirin (9th), Jiwa Mohan (65th) and Ahmad Kazamirul (67th).
Pakistan import Shakeel Abbasi scored the consolation for YNS, who are fielding 11 foreigners in the MHL.
In Division One, Bandar Penawar Sports School hit two goals past Bukit Jalil Sports School with both the goals coming from Shahril Saabah off penalty corners in the 49th amd 69th minutes.
Armed Forces Juniors continued to dominate with a 4-1 win over Ipoh City Council.

STANDINGS
PREMIER DIVISION

P W D L F A Pt
KLHC 8 6 1 1 38 12 19
TNB 7 5 1 1 16 7 16
UNIKL-TRC 7 5 1 1 13 9 16
YNS 7 4 0 3 25 20 12
SAPURA 7 3 0 4 22 17 9
NUR INSAFI 7 4 0 3 14 18 12
MAYBANK 7 1 3 3 6 11 6
ATM-AIROD 7 1 0 6 8 27 3
UITM 7 0 0 7 9 30 0

DIVISION ONE
P W D L F A Pt
ATM JNR 5 5 0 0 15 3 15
BPSS 5 4 0 1 11 6 12
BJSS 5 3 0 2 10 6 9
IPOH CH 6 2 1 3 13 15 7
MALACCA CC 6 2 0 4 8 8 6
USM 6 2 0 4 8 17 6
UNITEN 5 0 1 4 2 12 1

PREMIER DIVISION: RESULTS -- Maybank 2 KLHC 2, Sapura 6 YSN 1, UniKL 4 ATM-Airod 0, Nur Insafi 2 UiTM 1.
TODAY - (all matches at the Universiti Sains Malaysia Hockey Stadium in Minden) Today: TNB v YNS (3pm), Sapura v UiTM (4.45pm), Maybank v ATM-Airod (6.30pm), UniKL v Nur Insafi (8.15pm).
DIVISION ONE: RESULTS -- Ipoh CC 1 Armed Forces Juniors 4, Bukit Jalil Sports School 0 Bandar Penawar Sports School 2, UniTen 0 Malacca CC 3.
TOMORROW: Armed Forces Juniors v Ipoh CC (Azlan Shah Stadium, 5pm), Bandar Penawar Sports School v Bukit Jalil Sports School (Bandar Penawar, 5pm), Armed Forces Juniors v USM (Tun Razak Stadium, 5pm).