Great Britain vs. Malaysia: Great Britain win first match of 20th Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament
Great Britain has been emerged victorious over the host Malaysia by two goals, 3-1 in the third match of the Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Cup contested on Thursday at the Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Stadium in Ipoh, Malaysia.
The host squad surprisingly opted to test Roslan Jamaluddin as goal-keeper instead of the regular goalie S. Kumar. The British side, which had some momentum, took the ball under their possession in the first five minutes of the play. The
Malaysian side though contested the game courteously, as they did not work enough to fight against the visiting side.
Great Britain started the game quite offensively but at the same time gave chances to opponent players. Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin found a chance in the seventh minute of the game but to no avail. He failed to touch the pass from Faisal Saari
and missed a great chance to take the lead in the game.
Soon after the two minutes, Mohamed Madzli Ikmar played carelessly and passed the ball to the opposing British team. Simon Mantell found himself alone inside the circle but his hit went wide.
The British side earned a short corner in the 17th minute and tested James Tindall to chase the ball from Richard Mantell. However, the goalie from the host side was not at his best. He failed to stop the ball impressively.
Richard put the British side ahead on the scoreboard by a single goal, 1-0.
Great Britain’s Mathew Daly failed to double the tally when he found a chance in the 27th minute of the match, as his hit was deflected in the hands of Rolsan.
The host side obtained their second short corner in the 31st minute of the game but failed to capitalise on the chance. Malaysian striker, Faisal Saari could not past Fair in the goal of the British side. Before the whistle
at the end of the first half, the British team earned another chance. Richard Smith nailed a goal in to double the tally. At the half-time, the visiting squad was sitting on top with a couple of goals, 2-0.
The game in the second half was quite slow, as the two sides scored one goal each in the 35 minutes. Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin, the legendary striker from Malaysia notched a goal in the 41st minute of the match to reduce the lead
down to a single point, 2-1.
The two teams were playing a defensive game in the second half of play. Robert Moore of Great Britain managed to take the ball away and scored another goal to expand the lead up to two goals, 3-1. After an end-to-end play, the British
side won the game 3-1.
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