Malacca blast five goals past Terengganu, champs Perak held

Malacca got off to a flying start in the national Under-21 tournament, outplaying Terengganu 5-0 in a Group B match at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.

Skipper Nazmi Kamaruddin scored a brace in the 23rd and 29th minutes. The other scorers were B. Namasivayam (8th), Mohd Fareez Ismail (25th) and Mohd Syakir Amir Kamarudin (44th).

The match was played in hot and humid conditions and Malacca coach G. Ravindran was glad that his team trooped out of their opening match with a convincing win.

“The first match is usually difficult. But we took our chances well and I am happy with my boys' performance. We could have scored more goals in the second half but slow down the game because of the hot weather,” he said.

Ravindran added that he was also happy to see Nazmi getting on target with two goals.

“He is good with his penalty corner flicks and I hope he will score more goals in the tournament,” he said.

Malacca, whho were the runners-up when they hosted the last tournament in 2005, are expected to chalk up another big win against minnows Perlis today. Perlis crashed to a 1-5 by Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Two KL players scored a brace – Mohd Faisal Kamarudin (third, 44th) and Mohd Shafiq Othman (26th, 28th). The other goal was scored by Mohd Hafiz Zakaria (42nd).

Perlis got their goal through Mohd Zikri Had in the 46th minute.

Defending champions Perak were held to a 1-1 draw in a Group A match against Kedah. Former national junior trainee Fazreen Ehsan Kulub Wahab gave Perak the lead off a penalty corner in the 23rd minute.

Kedah equalised with a penalty corner goal by Khairul Aiaman Mohd Noor in the 54th minute.

Perak coach Mokhtar Baharuddin was disappointed with his team's performance.

“My boys were off form and they struggled against a weaker team. It was a bad start for us as the defending champions,” he said.

Mokhtar added that he hoped his boys would rise to occasion against hard-hitting Kelantan today.

Yesterday, Kelatan turned on the heat in the second half and defeated Pahang 4-1.

Kelantan led 1-0 at half time with a field goal by Mohd Junaidi Ghazali in the 16th minute. Their other scorers were Mohd Kamil Yaakob (40th), Wan Mohd Syafiq Wan Noor Zuhairi (61st) and Mohd Fadli Ismail (62nd).

Pahang's consolation goal was scored by Mohd Firdaus Mokhtar in the 60th minute.