Gimme, Gimme Gimme

24 Mar 2013

Defeat for THT in Their Second Match

After the intense battle against Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) in their opening match, Terengganu Hockey Team (THT) found the going tough in their second match against Maybank today.

THT looked more settled than in their previous match and were able to force five penalty corners but could not make full use of them. The newly formed side looked heavy at times and could not find their way past the Maybank defence.

Action from the Maybank vs THT match
(Photo taken from the TNB-MHL official website)

The Tigers fielded four Pakistan players in their line-up with Muhammad Irfan, Shakeel Abbasi, Muhammad Waqas and Shafqat Rasool taking on the field. With fresh legs they were the early aggressors as they forced a penalty corner early in the match.

However THT custodian, Hazrul Faiz managed to palm away the effort by Mohamad Zulhairi Hashim. Coming to the half hour mark the goalkeeper was finally beaten.

Pakistani player Shakeel dispossessed THT skipper, Mohamad Shahrun Nabil before dribbling past two defenders. A reverse stick hit gave Hazrul no chance at all and Maybank took the lead.

The lead did not last long as THT upped the tempo and scored the equaliser in the 33rd minute when Sufi Ismat managed to put the ball past Maybank goalkeeper, Hanaffi Hassan.

The second half saw THT having more possession but the well drilled Maybank defence stood firm to soak up the pressure by the east coast side. The Tigers then looked dangerous when they break and from such instance they scored the winner.

The anticipation of Muhammad Waqas was spot on as he diverted an off target hit by Shafqat Rasool past Hazrul.

THT tried to chase the match but could not find their way past Hanaffi. The task was made much harder when Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin was flashed the yellow card with just four minutes remaining.

In the end it was too much for Nik Rozemi's boys and they have to settle for just a point from two matches.


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