Johor
booked a place in the final of the MHC-MILO- NSC-MOE National Under 14
tournament against defending champions Kuala Lumpur after they defeated Perak
3-2 at the Seremban Two Hockey Stadium.
It
is the southern state’s first appearance in the final of the Under 14 while it
will be the city side’s sixth consecutive appearance. And they won the last
five editions of the Under 14 tournament.
Johor
took a 3-0 lead at halftime through goals from Muhammad Shafiq Hassan (5th
minute), Muhammad Haikal Safaruddin (11th minute) and Mohd Amirul
Firdaus Shamsuddin (30th minute).
Perak
reduced the deficit in the 46th minute when Muhammad Najmi Hayazi
scored. And Najmi added another for Perak in the 57th minute to make
it 2-3 and Perak were with a chance.
But
time ran out on Perak and Johor celebrated their first final appearance since
2007.
For
hosts Negri, it was heartbreak despite dominating large portions of the match
and they paid the price for woeful finishing.
“It
was a tough game and we took our chances well. The final is a different
proposition altogether as we are always mindful of the fact that teams are
after our scalp,” said KL coach Mohd Madzli Ikmar.
“We
had a narrow escape against Negri and the second goal came at the right time. I
dread to think what the consequences would have been had Negri netted the
equaliser as they were growing in confidence.”
It
was all Kuala Lumpur in the initial stages of the first half as Negri opted to
play a two-man attack and depend on counter attacks.
But
Negri started growing in confidence as the match progressed, enough to force
three penalty corners but they failed to capitalise from the chances created.
They
lost their skipper, Mahathir Rathuwan through injury towards the tailend of the
half while for Kuala Lumpur’s Muhd Syafiq Abd Ghani Syah and Ahmad Hariz
Syazani Ezani were proving to be a handful for the Negri defence.
Kuala
Lumpur took the lead in the 41st minute when off their fourth
penalty corner Muhammad Fitri Khairul Ariffin opted to take a direct hit
instead of playing a set piece. And the ball sailed past Negri custodian Muhd
Amirul Hazim Rashid who until then had an outstanding match.
Negri
then took control of the match but failed to make use of the chances created,
even missing 4 penalty corners and sitters att times.
And
Fitri put the result beyond doubt in the 64th minute as he weaved
past two defenders before unleashing a reverse stick hit from the edge of the
semi circle.
Semi
Final Results
Kuala
Lumpur 2 Negri Sembilan 0
Johor
3 Perak 2
Fixtures
1500H
– 3/4 Placing
Negri
Sembilan v Perak
1700H
– Final
Kuala
Lumpur v Johor
