Sapura at the top

23/06/2003

SAPURA topped the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) standings going into a
five-week break when they beat Royal Malaysian Customs 4-2 at the
Pandamaran Stadium in Klang yesterday.
At the Kuala Lumpur HA Stadium, Ernst & Young blew their chance of going
top when they played to a 1-1 draw against Bank Simpanan Nasional.
During the break, the national players in the MHL will return to
centralised training to prepare for the Champions Challenge in South
Africa from July 19-27.
When the league resumes on Aug 1, the title will likely be a toss among
four teams.
Sapura scored four early goals off Kang Keon Wook (12th), S. Kuhan
(26th, 39th) and Fakhrulrazi Ibrahim (27th).
Customs came back strongly in the second half but could only score two
goals from Ranjit Singh (57th) and Faried Abdullah (67th).
Ernst & Young found the going tough against BSN after Syed Imran Ali
scored his first penalty corner in the 35th minute.
Len Aiyappa came to their rescue with a well placed 59th minute penalty
corner to share the spoils.
"BSN packed their defence and it became increasingly difficult for us to
play because we needed a win to keep a top-three finish in sight.
"And after BSN got their goal, my men were under tremendous pressure but
still managed to equalise," said Ernst & Young coach K. Dharmaraj.
o AT the Azlan Shah Stadium, Johor Baru City Council (JBCC) made it
worth their trip when they beat Dolphins 2-0, reports R.G RAJ.
With the win JBCC, who had edged Ipoh City Council 1-0 on Friday at the
same venue, moved a few rungs up the table after occupying the bottom
place since the start of the MHL. The Dolphins are now submerged at the
bottom.
With the two teams evenly matched they ended in a scoreless deadlock at
half time. But the visitors were more fortunate in the second half with
their aggressive approach.
Their efforts were rewarded in the 45th minute when Razalee Yahaya
sounded the board off a penalty corner with goalkeeper Abdul Rahman Johari
beaten.
Spurred by the goal JBCC continue to press the Dolphin's goal area and
found the second goal also from a penalty corner through Nor Affazly
Ghafar.
Dolphins tried to make a comeback but to no avail, despite the three
penalty corners they forced during the closing stages.
Results: Ernst & Young 1 BSN 2, Customs 2 Sapura 4, Navy Dolphins 0
Johor Baru MC 2, Ipoh City Hall 3 Srii Aroma 1.
(END)

Maybank go down fighting

22/06/2003

MAYBANK went down fighting to Ernst & Young in a Malaysia Hockey League
(MHL) match at the Kuala Lumpur HA Stadium yesterday.
With the defeat Tenaga, who hammered Navy Dolphins 14-0 earlier, are now
top of the standings with 19 points, while Maybank also have 19 but with
an inferior goal difference.
Maybank showed that fitness and determination can do wonders, as the
Lions, an average side, were never expected to be in the position they are
in today.
But for the Maybank defenders losing their cool yesterday, the match
could have easily been theirs.
Maybank were stunned in the seventh minute when Ernst & Young received
their first penalty corner but instead of utilising their ace Len Aiyappa,
a set-piece was hatched and Chua Boon Huat got his name on the scoreboard.
But Maybank never gave up and off a speedy counter attack eight minutes
later, they won a penalty corner and K. Gobinathan smashed in the
equaliser.
The match turned robust after that and Ernst & Young's Lee Sien Lam was
flashed the yellow card by unmpire Ravinderpal Singh after he collided
with Suhaimi Ibrahim in the semi-circle.
Maybank failed to take advantage of their numerical advantage as Ernst &
Young defender Maninderjit Singh was a pillar in his circle.
Lee, back from the sin-bin for just a few minutes, was yellow-carded
again for robust play - which means he will miss the next match against
Bank Simpanan Nasional today.
In the second half, tension heightened among the players and Ernst &
Young received a penalty stroke in the 43rd minute which was converted by
Amin Rahim for the three points.
Tenaga Nasional hammered the daylights out of Navy Dolphins at the same
venue earlier when they romped home 14-0.
Tenaga scored an average of one goal every five minutes after the
floodgates were opened by Azlan Misron in the first minute.
The other Tenaga goalscorers were Tajol Rosli (fourth, 56th), M.
Kaliswaran (fifth, 13th), Fairuz Ramli (14th, 18th), Syayrim Uda Karim
(35th), S. Selvaraju (42nd), Nor Saiful Zaini (49th, 66th), S. Saravanan
(55th, 58th), Nor Azaln Bakar (68th).
* AT the Pandaraman Stadium in Klang, Pahang Sports Council and Royal
Malay Regiment played to a 2-2 draw.
RMR took a two-goal lead off their Hong Kong import Arif Ali in the
second and 17th minutes, but Pahang snatched a draw with second-half goals
from Zulkifli Abdullah (57th) and Norzaiful Rizal (59th).
Today: Navy Dolphins v Johor Baru Municipal Council (Azlan Shah Stadium,
5.15pm); Customs v Sapura (Pandamaran Stadium, 5.15pm); Ipoh City Hall v
Srii Aroma (Azlan Shah Stadium, 8pm); Ernst & Young v Bank Simpanan
Nasional (KLHA stadium, 5.15pm).
RESULTS
Ernst & Young......2 Maybank ........1
Pahang SC..........2 RMR ............2
Tenaga ...........14 Navy Dolphins...0
(END)

Maybank in thriller

21/06/2003

MIGHTY Sapura, trailing by two goals at the break to Malaysia Hockey
League (MHL) leaders Maybank, came back strongly to earn a draw at the Tun
Razak Stadium yesterday.
Maybank were enjoying a two-goal advantage when Mohamed Hanafi Hassan
scored a field goal in the 16th minute and K. Gobinathan a penalty corner
in the 33rd minute.
The match loked like it was headed the way of the Lions, but Sapura came
back in the second half with a Nishel Kumar double in the 43rd and 58th
minutes to save their day.
* AT the KLHA Stadium, Tenaga Nasional squandered at least 15 goal
scoring chances but still beat Srii Aroma of Penang 6-1.
Tajol Rosli scored Tenaga's first in the second minute with a superb
reverse stick shot and it looked like Srii Aroma were in for a hiding.
But Srii Aroma, who adopted a dangerous open game the entire match, were
spared the drubbing as Tenaga forwards blew their chances as the ball
whizzed left and right, but rarely at goal.
Noor Saiful Zaini (11th, 39th), Tajol (19th), M. Kaliswaran (23rd),
Syayrim Uda Karim (70th) sealed the match while L. Pragas (63rd) scored
for Srii Aroma.
"My players forgot how to score today (yesterday). Nothing went right. I
have no words to describe the match," said Tenaga coach K. Rajan.
* AT the Azlan Shah Stadium in Ipoh, Johor Baru City Council (JBCC)
scored their first win after six matches when they edged Ipoh City Council
1-0, reports R.G. RAJ.
JBCC's hero was Eszreeb Abdul Aziz who scored the winner four minutes
into the second half admist thunder and heavy rain.
JBCC, who lost 4-2 to Bank Simpanan Nasional on Thursday at the Tun
Razak Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, looked tired after the long trip to Ipoh
but took their chances well to make it an even contest. They even forced
three penalty corners against five by the hosts.
Ipoh City Council had a slight with forwards Fazreen Eksan Kulub Wahab
and P. Premkumaran taking turns to test goalkeeper Zahri Limat but to no
avail.
JBCC came charging back in the second half and stunned the home team in
the 39th minute when Eszreeb paced himself well to meet a long cross from
Khairil Hisham Che Kolek and beat goalkeeper Kezuan Ghazali.
* At the Tun Razak Stadium, Bank Simpanan Nasional sank deeper into the
mire when they lost 1-4 to Royal Malaysian Customs after taking the lead.
The Customs goalscorers were Adrian Richard Doss (32nd, 52nd), Ikmal
Abdul Jabar (33rd) and K. Manoraj (52nd). The BSN goal was scored by Syed
Imran Ali in the 23rd minute.
Today: Pahang Sports Council v Royal Malay Regiment (Pandamaran Stadium,
5.15pm); Tenaga Nasional v Navy Dolphins (KLHA Stadium, 6pm); Ernst &
Young v Maybank (KLHA Stadium, 8pm).
Tomorrow: Navy Dolphins v Johor Baru Municipal Council (Azlan Shah
Stadium, 5.15pm); Customs v Sapura (Pandamaran Stadium, 5.15pm); Ipoh City
Hall v Srii Aroma (Azlan Shah Stadium, 8pm); Ernst & Young v Bank Simpanan
Nasional (KLHA stadium, 5.15pm).
RESULTS
Ipoh City Hall .... 0 Johor Baru MC ........1
Tenaga .............6 Srii Aroma ...........1
BSN ................1 Customs ..............4
Maybank ............2 Sapura ...............2
(END)

NSC snubs academy

20/06/2003

THE Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) academy delegation received a cold
shoulder from National Sports Council (NSC) director general Datuk Mazlan
Ahmad yesterday.
Led by MHF deputy president Tan Sri P. Alagandra and vice-president Dr
S.S. Cheema, they went back looking dejected as their plans went out the
window because, according to Mazlan, it was not feasible.
MHF secretary S. Satgunam said Mazlan was not receptive to the idea,
contrary to what they have been reading in the press.
"We went to see Mazlan today (yesterday) with the academy propoasl but
he was not receptive to the idea. He said it was similar to the other
sports academy proposals and will not get off the ground.
"But he gave us the green light to use the Tun Razak Stadium to develop
hockey," said Satgunam.
The academy proposal was to train and coach young, talented players in
modern hockey techniques while at the same time rejuvenate the game at a
grassroots level.
Mazlan was of the opinion that since hockey is already being developed
at the Bukit Jalil and Bandar Penawar Sports Schools, as well as the
centres of excellences nationwide, the academy will only be a waste of
time.
"We cannot go ahead with the academy plans without backing from NSC. So
we will put in another proposal to renovate the Tun Razak Stadium and use
it as our centre of excellence," said Satgunam.
MHF selected 70 players after the Malaysia Schols Sports Council
tournament in Kuantan recently, but it looks like they will have to scrap
their idea of placing the boys in the academy.
The MHF is partly to be blamed for the proposal being thrown out the
window, because despite coming up with an elaborate plan in March to set
up the country's first hockey academy, they placed the idea in cold
storage and kept the NSC waiting.
Mazlan was to meet up with the MHF top brass to discuss the setting up
of the academy but the first meeting was called off by MHF.
The idea of an academy was mooted by Terry Walsh when he was the
national coach, but it failed to get off the ground. The idea was tossed
around in 2000 but it failed to gather momentum, however, the MHF
Technical and Development Commit-tee, chaired by Cheema, tried to make a
concerted effort to get it off the ground, but it looks like it has been
buried for good.
(END)

Tough weekend for Maybank

19/06/2003

MALAYSIA Hockey League (MHL) leaders Maybank are in for a tough weekend
with back-to-back matches against powerhouses Sapura and Ernst & Young.
And with national skipper S. Kuhan available for Sapura, the Lions will
hard pressed to maintain their winning streak.
Kuhan, who received his second yellow card in the match against Dolphins
on June 13, has been spared by the MHL Technical Committee.
"The MHL Technical Committee met yesterday and decided that Sapura had
valid reason to appeal the yellow card incident and we have taken away
four demerit points off his record. He (Kuhan) can play this weekend,"
said Malaysian Hockey Federation secretary S. Satgunam.
But Navy Dolphins' Zulkarnain Embi and Pahang Sports Council manager
Mohamed Yazid were not so lucky, as both were banned for the remainder of
the MHL.
"Zulkarnain received a red card in the match against Ipoh City Hall and
the Technical Committee found that his actions were serious enough for him
to be banned for the remainder of the MHL.
"In Yazid's case the Technical Official, during the Pahang-Sapura match,
had handed him a written warning to behave, but he tore the note and threw
it away. We have banned him from sitting on the bench for the remainder of
the MHL," said Satgunam.
Controversies aside, the MHL is slowly picking up momentum and it looks
like the League title will be a two-horse race between Sapura and Tenaga.
No disrespect to Maybank who have shown great determination and fighting
spirit, but they lack the firepower to beat either Sapura or Ernst &
Young.
Tenaga Nasional have the best chance of topping the table this week with
easy matches against Srii Aroma and Navy Dolphins.
"We will have to go for goals in both the matches because Sapura have
scored 41," said Tenaga coach K. Rajan.
And now that Rajan has discovered an unpolished gem in Norazlan Bakar,
it will be easier for Tenaga to pile-up their goal tally in case the title
race is decided on goals.
"Norazlan scored two penalty corner goals against Customs last week and
shocked everyone with the power and accuracy of his flicks. He is not a
drag flicker, but his confidence is growing and he can be coached to
become an asset," said Rajan.
(END)