M'sia And New Zealand Share The Points In Second Test Match After 3-3 Draw

KUALA LUMPUR, April 25 (Bernama) – The national men’s hockey came from behind to snatch a 3-3 draw against New Zealand in their second test match at the Tun Razak Stadium here Monday. The Malaysia squad which put up a rather complacent performance in the final quarter of the match, was almost punished by New Zealand who were eager to avenge their embarrassing 2-8 defeat in the first test match between the two teams at the same venue Monday. The New Zealand Black Sticks scored the opening goal in the 19th minute via a penalty corner by Sam Lane before Malaysia equalised three minutes later through another penalty corner by Muhammad Marhan Jalil. Malaysia, ranked world number 14 against New Zealand who are in eighth spot, took the lead when Mohammad Fitri Saari scored a field goal in the 53rd minute but the joy was short lived when Stephen Jenness struck in the next minute to level the score. Against the run of play, Nick Ross made it 3-2 in the 55th minute to put his team in the driver’s seat but Faizal Saari cancelled the advantage in the 59th minute via a penalty corner to make it 3-3. National head coach Stephen van Huizen said the two test matches had given him the opportunity to gauge the performance of his team before heading for Ipoh, Perak to compete in the 2017 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup from April 29 to May 6. “We were not at our best (performance) today after resting Razie Rahim, who had a minor hamstring injury and Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin Tengku Abdul Jalil who has already confirmed his place in the squad. We had a slow start but managed to pick up the momentum. “We need to do better and cut down mistakes and unforced errors while the penalty corner shots were good. We will focus on familiarising the pitch in Ipoh after this, and (getting used to) playing under flood lights as our games are at night,” he said. The former international said talks were underway on playing a practice match against Australia, before the opening match with Japan at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup this Saturday. In the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup competition, Malaysia will have a tough battle against Australia who are ranked second in the world, followed by Great Britain (seventh), New Zealand and India (sixth). -- BERNAMA