A dominant Great Britain overwhelmed Malaysia’s Young Tigers 4-1 in the
Sultan of Johor Cup at the Johor Hockey Stadium on Wednesday.
The defending champions scored three first half goals and added one in the
third quarter.
The tone was set early, with the Kiwis finding the back of the net in the 10 th
minute through Kaden Draysey’s penalty corner conversion.
Falling behind by one goal, the Malaysians kept up the pressure and broke
through with a brilliant move in the 17 th minute when Adam Asyraf Johari
slammed the ball past goalkeeper James Carleton and into the net.
Great Britain struck again through a brace from Jonny-Hibbit Sturch (19 th ,
39 th ), and Monty Neave in the 26 th minute via field goals.
With this victory, four-time champions Great Britain catapulted to third in
the table standings with six points, while Pakistan is in fourth spot, Malysia
in fifth (4), and New Zealand at the bottom with three points.
In a later match between Australia and India, the winner will qualify for the
final. The Burras and Indians share seven equal points after three matches.
National junior coach Nor Saiful Zaini said: “We were able to compete with
them. However, in terms of ball control, they were clearly superior. I feel
that with their height advantage and the way they maintain possession, it
appeared more polished than ours. This made it difficult for us to tackle
them.
“Great Britain skillfully trapped us with fast movements, especially before
entering the D-area for marking. They would initiate an attack, and other
players would come from behind to support. Two of their goals were
scored in this manner, and one was from a penalty corner.
He added that the Young Tigers had several scoring chances but muffed
them.
“In the second quarter, we actually had chances when they were leading 1-
0, 2-1, and 3-1. However, we failed to convert them. This is one of our
apparent weaknesses – we don’t score when opportunities arise,” he added.
