The Malaysian Tigress lost 0-2 against their Wales opponent in the second test match at the National Hockey Centre in Cardiff today.
It was the fifth and penultimate game for the Malaysians on Saturday, who will conclude their six-match series tour of Australia with the third test match tomorrow (Sunday, Aug 11).
In the previous matches, Wales and Malaysia drew 2-2 in two matches, while the Welsh won with scores of 2-0 in two others.
Freya Diamond, who scored in the 2-2 draw against the Tigress in the first test on Aug 7, registered her name again on the score card with a ninth minute penalty corner conversion.
The Welsh then doubled the lead in the 12th minute through a Rachel Goodwin field goal.
The Tigress played for almost three quarters of the match without forward Nur Afiqah Syahzani Azhar, who has 30 international caps, following an ankle injury sustained at the start of the first quarter.
“She got hit by the ball in the ankle early in the match and only came back to play towards the end of the fourth quarter. Her absence for a long period was felt by the forward line,” said national senior women’s team head coach Nasihin Nubli Ibrahim.
“We started at a slow pace, lacking intensity, and Wales capitalised on the situation and scored two goals in the first quarter. With time running out in the last quarter we could not find the back of the net as the Welsh defended tightly,” he said.
He added that the midfielders and defenders will need to improve their performance in the third and last test match tomorrow in the hope of pulling off their first victory.
