Bandar Penawar Sports School-Thunderbolt lifts first Malaysian Junior Hockey League title, 5-4
After a cliff-hanging contest, the Bandar Penawar Sports School-Thunderbolt (BPSS –TNB) emerged victorious over University Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) in the finals of the Malaysian Junior Hockey League (MJHL) to lift the first overall title of the league. The
nail-biting contest that was decided in the penalty shootout round was played at the Tun Razak Hockey Stadium in Kula Lumpur, Malaysia.
By winning the final contest, the BPSS-TNB took sweet revenge from UniKL to whom they lost in the 2010 finals by a single goal. The match had commenced late due to heavy showers.
The UniKL opened the game quite offensively and obtained first score in the 3rd minute of the game in the hands of Mohd Taufik Abdul Hamid. However, the referee reversed back his decision after consultation with other umpire. But it was UniKL
that drew the first blood in the 8th minute of the game when Mohd Azri Hassan converted their first short-corner and scored the first goal through a low-flying shot.
In the 13th minute of the game, the BPSS-Thunderbolt earned their first short corner but failed to capitalise it. Though, they were facing tough defence from opponent UniKL side, they managed a tie in the 21st minute of the game. Mohd
Fitri Saari dribbled two defenders to get into the UniKL defensive circle and unleashed a reverse shot to score the tying goal. Shahrul Azaddin Auskarzie – the UniKL custodian did not find any chance to stop the ball.
With seven minutes left in the first half of play, Mohd Zuhhairi scored his 18th goal of the game to regain the lead for UniKL. The first half of play was concluded with UniKL sitting on top by a single goal.
In the second half of play, the pace of the game slowed down and only one goal was scored in the 35 minutes. The BPSS-TNB, which was playing third finals, made the score equal in the 38th minute of the match when Shahrusahadan chipped in a goal
from the close range and had it all even at 2-2. BPSS-Thunderbolt though obtained another two short corners in the last ten minutes but to no avail. The equal scoring forced the two teams to move into the sudden-death overtime.
However, the two sides could not make a score in the two halves of the extra-time. The period was filled with lot off attacks and counter-attacks but to no avail.
In the penalty shootouts, the BPSS-Thunderbolt converted three out of total five while UniKL managed two. Shahril Saabah, Amir Zulkarnain Ahmad and Mohd Firhan Ashaari scored for BPSS while Mohd Taufik and Manraj Singh and did it for UniKL. The BPSS won
its first ever overall title of the MJHL.
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