MHL : Knockout Stage

Defender Mohd Amin Rahim scored a hat-trick to steer Tenaga Nasional to a hard-fought 4-2 win over the National Juniors in a Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) quarter-final second-leg match at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.

Defending overall champions Tenaga, who finished third in Division One, advanced to the semi-finals on a 5-3 aggregate. They will take on Division One runners-up Sapura for a place in the final.

Sapura, powered by two South Koreans, beat Division Two champions Jurutera Letrik Jentera (JLJ) 6-0 at the Kuala Lumpur Hockey Stadium to qualify for the semi-finals 11-0 on aggregate.

In Sapura’s rout of JLJ yesterday, Jiwa Mohan scored a hat-trick (28th, 37th and 51st) and the other goals came from P. Prabahkaran (47th), Mohd Faisal Kamaruddin (66th) and K. Keevan Raj (70th).

Ernst and Young also chalked up an easy 6-1 win over Royal Malay Regiment (RMR) at the Tun Razak Stadium to advance 18-1 on aggregate.

The scorers for the league champions yesterday were Ahmad Anuar Sham Kamar (4th, 10th), Mohd Amerullah Abdul Aziz (13th), Baljit Singh Sarjab (32nd) and Mohd Razie Abdul Rahim (56th). RMR replied through Mazalan Abdullah in the 46th minute.

In the semi-finals, Ernst and Young, who are gunning for their first overall title, will meet the winners of the tie between Nur Insafi and Maybank.

The semi-final first-leg matches will be held on Dec 19 and the return matches will be played on Dec 21.

In the match between Tenaga and the National Juniors, Amin Rahim converted a penalty corner to give the defending champions the lead in the 21st minute. Six minutes later, he made a penalty-stroke conversion before getting on target again in the 60th minute off a penalty corner.

Mohd Fairuz Ramli scored the fourth goal for Tenaga in the 67th minute. The two goals scored by the Juniors came off penalty corners through Nor Hafiq Abdul Gaffar (44th, 62nd).

Tenaga coach Lailin Abu Hassan said: “The Juniors really gave us a good fight until the last minute. I am also happy with Amin’s performance as he has got back his confidence in scoring goals.”