The National juniors lost a thrilling battle against Great Britain and fell to Monty Neave’s late field goal for a 1-2 defeat in the Sultan of Johor Cup at the Johor Hockey Stadium on Taman Desa today.
Having defeated Australia 3-1, lost 6-4 to India, and drawn 1-1 with New Zealand in the round robin matches, the Britons went into the match hard pressed for victory against the Malaysians in the hope of moving up the table standings before the conclusion of the last matches on Friday.
After the end of four rounds, three-time champions India, who lost 0-4 to Australia in an earlier match today, lead the standings with nine points, followed by New Zealand in second spot (8), Australia in third (7), Great Britain in fourth (7), Japan in fifth spot (3) and Malaysia at the basement with no point.
The match got off to a rousing start with loud cheers from supporters. After a ‘feel good’ exercise session from both teams, the Britons took control and made a strong start by taking the lead in the 15th minute from a penalty stroke that was converted by Kaden Draysey.
Che Nur Aqilrullah pulled one back two minutes later from a field goal as both teams held on to a 1-1 score until the end of the first half.
National juniors head coach I. Vickneswaran, said: “We did not start that well in the first quarter. It was not their best, and we gave away one short corner that was unnecessary. From that short corner, we gave away a penalty stroke. They took the lead, but we had our capacity and equalized in the game. Great Britain adopted a physical game and our players could not match them.”
“Maybe this is the first experience for the juniors playing against teams from Europe. They have to learn from this experience and not repeat it. Our next game is against Australia. They defeated India today but I look at it as an opportunity for us to play them in our preparation for the Junior Asia Cup,” he added.
The second half saw Great Britain explore more opportunities and earned four more penalty corners, taking their total to seven in the match.
However, credit to goalkeeper Mohamad Rafaizul Saini who did an excellent job thwarting Great Britain shots, and aptly deserved recognition for the Man of the Man award.
The fourth quarter saw Great Britain push hard for the winning goal after futile efforts in the second and third quarter. They succeeded in their mission when Neave sneaked the ball past Rafaizul in a packed goalmouth melee in the 53rd minute to go 2-1 up.
That goal dashed all hopes of the Young Tigers ending the night with a draw but they can still hold their heads high for a good performance.
Malaysia’s goalkeeper Mohamad Rafaizul Saini with the Man of the Match award presented by Johor HA Deputy President Mr Paramjit Singh
Malaysia’s Adam Ashraf runs away with the ball with Great Britain defenders hot on his heels in the SOJC match on Wednesday. GB won 2-1