Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club to play Tenaga Nasional Berhad in Malaysian Hockey League Finals
Defending double-champions, Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) and Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), emerged victorious over Maybank and Sapura, respectively, in the second-leg of the semi-final rounds, walking to the finals of the Malaysian Hockey League (MHL).
The semi-final matches were played at the National Hockey Stadium, in Bukit Jalil, Malaysia, on October 21.
KL Hockey Club registered a 5-2 victory over Maybank with an overall aggregate of 11-3. On the other hand, TNB handed down a 4-3 defeat to Sapura in the second leg, taking the victorious lead aggregate up to 9-6.
The KL Hockey Club contested the entire event on a winning note without losing any game so far. It is only one win away to equal the overall unbeaten record of Yayasan Negeri Sembilan (YNS).
Manager of KLHC, George Koshy, praised the team of TNB particularly in terms of their defence and attack.
He underscored, “TNB have the best defence and a fantastic strike force that will one day be the best in the country. In these two departments they have the advantage as their defenders are experienced and keeper Kumar is the best in Asia”.
In his view, the troika of Faisal, Amir and Firhan exhibited fantastic games in the previous fixtures. He warned his team to be careful about these players.
On the other hand, Koshy believes that they have a brilliant midfield and they will do what they were looking for since a long time.
For the upcoming match, TNB’s coach, Lailin Abu Hassan, said that they will miss the services of Mohd Sallehin Ghani. He, however, said that, they will try to fill the vacuum by making changes in positioning of the players.
He added, “Though we lost in the season opener, it will be a different ball game this time around as we have worked on improving our chinks in defence and are ready to surprise them”.
For TNB, Mohd Amin Rahim, Mohd Firhan Ashaari, Amir Farid Ahmad Fuzi and Faiz Helmi scored one goal each in the 16th, 39th, 50th and 68th minutes, respectively.
From the other side, Sapura’s Azreen Rizal Nasir and Izwan Firdaus Ahmad Tajuddin scored two and one goals, respectively, in the loss.
In the other match between KLHC and Maybank, the latter drew the first blood in the 8th minute of the match, in quite a shocking way.
Mohd Zulhairi Hashim whacked a short corner to put Maybank ahead of the unbeaten KLHC at 1-0.
After an end-to-end play, Ismail Abu made an equalising goal in the 24th minute of the mark.
In the later part of the game, Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin, Mohd Shahrun Nabil, Mohd Razie Abdul Rahim and Mohd Syamim Mohd Yusof accounted for one goal apiece in the victory.
Although Mohd Muhsin Hamsani marked a goal for Maybank, they lost the match at 5-2.
Regardless of the results, the final match between TNB and KLHC will be a dazzling show.
Tags: