THT survive Maybank scare to triumph

Kuala Lumpur (10 January, 2017): Terengganu Hockey Team (THT) survived a great fight back from Maybank to win 5-3 in the final of the second edition Tan Sri P. Alagendra Cup Knockout Tournament at the Tun Razak Stadium today.

Today’s victory was a perfect warm-up for double champions THT who go into Friday’s Charity Shield match against Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club at the Batu Buruk Hockey Stadium in Kuala Terengganu which is the curtain raiser for the 2017 TNBMHL season.

THT, who lost to Tenaga Nasional Berhad in the semi-finals of the event last year, also walked away with the winning purse of RM70,000 as champions while Maybank up RM30,000.

“It was a fantastic match. The boys played well and deserved this victory. Mabank came back strongly but we did well to sustain the pressure before going for the win,” said THT head coach Sarjit Singh.

THT started the match as favourites and were quick to find the net in the 15th minute through Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin Tengku Jalil via a field goal but the celebrations faded as quickly as it came when Maybank’s search for the equaliser proved fruitful five minutes later.

Midfielder Hafifihafiz Hanafi latched on a loose ball inside the semicircle and packed it past goalkeeper Muhammad Hafizuddin Othman to level 1-1.
However, the ever resilient THT, marshalled by drag-flick specialist Jang Jonghyun, were back on track to go 3-1 up by the 26th minute. The Korean scored a penalty corner (22nd) and a penalty stroke (26th) respectively as the east coast team grabbed a 3-1 lead at half time.

But Maybank, who defeated Universiti Putra Malaysia-KPT 8-1 in the first round, edged Universiti Kuala Lumpur 2-1 in the quarterfinals and Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya 5-1 in the semi-finals, produced an inspiring performance in the third quarter with goals from Man Hyun Woo off penalty stroke (39th) and Hafifihafiz returned three minutes later to score the equaliser and his second goal of the night.

However, for all the hard work and exciting moments from the Tigers it was THT who stole the thunder with a superb hat-trick from Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin (51st minute) whilst Jang sealed THT celebrations by converting a penalty stroke in the 58th minute.

The Korean’s hat-trick tonight was his second in the tournament and his ninth goal in the Tan Sri P. Alagendra Cup.

ROLL OF HONOUR:
Champion: Terengganu Hockey Team
Runner-up: Maybank
Man of the Match: Mohammad Fitri Saari