New Zealand vs. Malaysia: Sultan Azlan Shah Cup – Mid-Match Report
The 17th match of the 20th Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey tournament is underway at the Sultan Azlan Shah Stadium in Ipoh, Malaysia. The match is being held between the host team and New Zealand.
The first half ended with the score tied at 1-1.
As the match kicked off, New Zealand were found dominating the field with their forward line at offence. However, Malaysia soaked up the pressure well and launched an attack of their own. On the 8th minute mark, Mohd Azammi Abadi rushed into the
defensive circle of the Black Sticks and struck his shot wide of the New Zealand goal.
The Black Sticks rushed towards the opponents half in the 10th minute and tried to play for a penalty corner, but were denied by referee Shin. However, the team continued to attack and tried to find a way past the Malaysian defensive line.
On the 12th minute mark, Nicolas Wilson reached the top of the defensive circle and hit a shot towards the net, but the shot was well saved by the Malaysian goalkeeper, Roslan Jamaluddin. Within the next minute, New Zealand’s Shay Neal attempted
a straight hit but he was again denied by Roslan.
The Black Sticks continued to attack and received their second penalty corner in the 15th minute. This time they successfully converted the corner into a goal. The goal was delivered by Nicolas Mcleod as a result of a clean deflection into the
net, making the score 1-0 in favour of New Zealand.
The remaining 15 minutes of the game were played with New Zealand enjoying majority of the ball possession. Malaysia hardly had one scoring chance in the early minutes of the match, but made a mess of it.
However, on the 30th minute mark, Malaysian striker Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin broke into the Black Sticks' defensive circle all by himself and attempted a shot while standing in the centre of the circle. The ball ended up with Muhd Izzat Mohd Rahim,
who sent the ball towards the goal for a Malaysian equaliser.
In the closing five minutes, both teams worked hard to find that extra goal, however, the half concluded with the scores tied up at 1-1.
The second half of the match is currently underway at the Sultan Azlan Shah Stadium in Ipoh, Malaysia.
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