Kuala Lumpur (3 February, 2017): Terengganu Hockey Team (THT) enjoyed another day of high scoring in the TNBMHL 2017 Premier League following a 6-1 drubbing of Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) at the Batu Buruk Hockey Stadium in Kuala Terengganu today.
South Korean Jang Jonghyun orchestrated TNB’s big defeat with the opening goal via a penalty stroke in the second minute and Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin stepped up with a hat-trick (17th, 29th and 36th minutes) before Jang returned to score his second goal and THT’s fifth in the 48th minute from a penalty corner. Muhammad Amirol Mirza made it 6-1 in the final seconds of the match.
TNB’s consolation goal was scored by Muhammad Ramadan Rosli in the 23rd minute through open play.
THT had in earlier matches registered high scores against UiTM-KPT (9-0), Tunku Mahkota Ismail Sports School (7-0) and pulverized TNB Thunderbolts 8-0 respectively.
The east coast state leads the table standings with 19 points from seven matches – two points clear of Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club and four points ahead of Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) who are placed third followed by TNB (13), Maybank (6), TNB Thunderbolts (6) followed by UiTM-KPT and SSTMI (1 point each).
In Malacca, Arul Selvaraj’s UniKL handed Maybank a 6-2 defeat at the Bukit Serindit Hockey Stadium
Pakistani Muhammad Aleem Bilal gave UniKL a resounding start in the fifth minute from an open play goal but Maybank equalised eight minutes later through Muhammad Firdaus Fauzi before Rafizul Ezry Mustafa doubled the score for UniKL in the very next moment.
However, in a show of superiority, Maybank once again clawed back to level score at 2-2 via Korean Jang Soon Chan from a field goal. The high octane performance on the pitch was won by UniKL as they went on to score four more goals through Muhammad Hafiz Zainol (28thth), Izwan Firdaus Ahmad Tajuddin (34th), Faridzul Afiq Mohd (37th) and Muhamad Hafiz Zainol (49th).
Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club also registered a 7-1 win over SSTMI at the Kuala Lumpur Hockey Stadium with goals from Muhammad Umar Bhutta (8th), Muhammad Nur Asyraf Ishak (14th), Muhammad Azri Hassan (17th), Mohd Syamim Mohd Yusof (23rd), Kleinschmidt Aaron Craig (43rd), Muhammad Noor Faeez Ibrahim (47th) and Ahmad Kazamirul Nasruddin (59th).
The Bandar Penawar-based SSTMI replied through Mohamad Aliff Syazwan Noor Shah from a penalty stroke in the 56th minute.
At the Tun Razak Stadum, the match between TNB Thunderbolts and UiTM-KPT was called off by the match technical official following a clash of stocking colours between the two teams. UiTM players were to wear red socks as oppose to Thunderbolts blue colours but instead wore similar colours.
In accordance with competition rules, UiTM was allocated 30 minutes grace period to replace the current socks with another set of colours but failed to do so.
However, a decision on the outcome of this match will be decided by the TNBMHL Technical Director on Monday.
Results – Premier League: Terengganu Hockey Team 6 Tenaga Nasional Berhad 1; Maybank 2 Universiti Kuala Lumpur 6; Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club 7 Tunku Mahkota Ismail Sports School 1.
Sunday (5 February, 2017): Terengganu Hockey Team v Tunku Mahkota Ismail Sports School (Batu Buruk Hockey Stadium, 5.0pm); TNB Thunderbolts v Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (SSTMI Hockey Stadium, 5.0pm); Tenaga Nasional Berhad v Maybank (KLHA, 6.0pm); Universiti Kuala Lumpur v UiTM-KPT (KLHA, 8.0pm).
