Double strike in final minutes helps Japan to level final match of series at 2-2 against Malaysia
A double blow by the Japanese in the last four minutes of the final match of the five test match series against the Malaysian national hockey side led them to level the match played at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Sunday, August 14.
With the match drawn at 2-2, the series ended on level as both of the teams scored two victories and the final match was ended in a draw.
In the first two of the previous four matches, the Japanese men defeated the Malaysian side by a similar margin of 2-1 while the Malaysians came back strongly in the third match in which they outclassed their Japanese opponents by 4-1 before securing another
victory with 2-1 in the fourth match.
The match was played in quite a competitive mode where the first thirty five minutes ended without any point on the scoreboard in spite of some good moves from both the sides while the second part of the game was full of entertainment as all of the four
goals were scored in the second half.
The match started slowly in the first half as both the teams looked more defensive in their approach and could not tick the scoreboard in spite of some good scoring opportunities and the first half ended goalless.
The second half was full of action as Malaysia scored twice mid-way in the second half while the Japanese replied just four minutes before the close of the play, scoring two goals in the last four minutes.
Malaysians opened the account and took the lead in the 50th minute when Izwan Firdaus scored the first goal of the match but soon after the opener Malaysians doubled their lead when Faisal Saari scored the second goal in the 55th minute.
The Japanese did not let them down and remained fighting throughout in the remaining time where they stunned the Malaysians by scoring two goals just four minutes before the end of the play. Toshiro Tachibana scored the first for Japan in the 66th
minute while Kenta Tanaka scored the equaliser in the 67th minute which lasted till the end.
Tags: