MHL : Tenaga worry over their porous defence

Tenaga Nasional’s porous defence is a big worry in their attempt to claim full points from their remaining four matches in the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL).

Skipper Mohamed Madzli Ikmar said that individual errors and not the brilliance of their opponents has resulted in them conceding goals.

“We have conceded 11 goals and scored 13. That is not a good statistic,” said the 30-year-old national defender.

“I can understand if the opponents execute their moves well to get the goals. But we are making mistakes and giving them away. That is not the way to go if are to succeed in the defence of the overall title.”

Madzli plays either in defence or as a central midfielder. The regular defenders are Mohamed Amin Rahim, who is also their penalty corner specialist, Zaharin Zakaria and Lawrence Steven. And youngsters like Baljit Singh and S. Bubalan can also fit in as defenders.

Tenaga have thrown in the towel in the battle for the Division One title and they are looking at finishing as the runners-up to Ernst and Young, who have opened up a nine-point lead. Tenaga are now in third place on inferior goal difference behind Sapura.

“The league title is beyond our reach. We have to be realistic about it and look ahead to what needs to be done from now. We must get used to a winning mentality and the next four matches are important. Winning them will boost the confidence of the team and we will be better prepared for the knockout stage,” said Madzli.

Tenaga will be up against Nur Insafi at the USM Stadium in Penang today followed by matches against Sapura (Sunday), Maybank (Nov 21) and Ernst and Young (Nov 23).

In the fight for second place, besides Tenaga and Sapura, the other teams still in the running are Maybank and the National Juniors.

Ernst and Young and the National Juniors will not be in action in this weekend’s fixtures. They are competing in the Asian Champion Clubs (ACC) tournament that will end on Sunday.