The defending league champions chalked up a narrow 3-2 win over Nur Insafi at the USM Hockey Stadium in Penang to extend their lead at the top of the table to nine points.
Tenaga Nasional blew a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with the National Juniors at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil while second-placed Sapura also lost ground when they were held to a goalless draw by Maybank at the KL Hockey Stadium.
With four matches more to go in the league competition, Ernst and Young only need a draw to retain the title for the third time.
Yesterday, Nur Insafi, who won the Division Two title last year, took a surprise lead with a goal by Ramesh Kumar in the 21st minute.
But Ernst and Young drew level five minutes later through Chua Boon Huat and this was followed by goals from Mohamed Shahrun Nabil and Zulkifli Rejab in the 52nd and 66th minutes respectively.
Nur Insafi, who have yet to register a win, scored another goal in the 68th minute through Ajay Kumar.
At the KL Hockey Stadium, it was tale of missed chances for Sapura and Maybank.
Maybank coach S. Vellapan said: “The title is now out of our reach and we have to focus on the second place. Today, our finishing was poor and we have to be satisfied that we managed to secure a point.”
Overall champions Tenaga Nasional could have moved into second place had they maintained their two-goal lead from the first half over the Juniors.
Fazreen Eksan scored the opening goal in the 31st minute and Fairuz Ramli went on target three minutes later. But the Juniors fought back and Izwan Firdaus scored a brace in the 58th and 66th minutes.
RSS Feed (xml)
No comments:
Post a Comment