Having finished fifth at the recent Women Asia Cup, there was no respite for the Malaysian women squad who look like ending right down under in the Super 9s Tournament in Perth.
Having lost 8-0 to Australia and 10-1 to Aegentina, they completed their preliminary round with a 4-1 defeat against Canada.
And once the players fly into KLIA on Monday, hey head directly to Ipoh for the RNA Cup after which they pack up and leave to Japqn for the AHF Champions Trophy.
No wonder we keep getting hammered as players get no respite.
Keeping their powder dry for tomorrow, both teams had trouble stringing together meaningful movements down the field.
The Malaysians were having a difficult time working through the puzzle that was the Canadian press. On the other side of the ball, Canada’s territorial advantage did not translate to shots on goal.
A long corner followed by a penalty corner to Malaysia presented Amarina with their best chance of the first half but the shot went high.
As time ticked down on the shot and game clocks before half time, Kristine Wishart brought the ball in from the penalty corner, camped herself at the post and swept home Canada’s first, a play that has worked so well this week.
Canada persisted and got reward for effort in the second half. Thea Culley scored in the 25th minute when she cut through the circle to the right, opened up the angle and hammered home on the run.
In a sweeping movement to the left, Abigail Raye blasted towards the goal mouth where Amanda Woodcroft navigated the ball through. Provider turned scorer five minutes later when the Canadians tried to replicate the move that got them Wishart’s first but from the initial save, Raye tomahawked a goal to give Canada confirmation of the win.
Malaysia’s Nadia Abdul Rahman ensured her team didn’t leave empty handed with a consolation score in traffic during a goal-mouth wrestle.
