On a cold windy night, Johor were given the shivers by the small state of Perlis before unlocking the shackles for a 3-1 victory in the TNB Tun Abdul Razak Cup 2024 at the Taman Daya Hockey Stadium in Johor Bahru today.
The Perlis boys got the better of Johor, champions in 1988, 2006 and 2007, in the first two quarters but the hosts found the form and touch in the fourth quarter to produce a stellar performance.
“It was a touch-and-go affair in the first two quarters. Perlis were playing a much better game at the early stages. They had several players who competed in the Sarawak Malaysia Games and also between three to five senior players. This being our first match, it took us some time to settle down,” said Johor head coach Mohd Nor Aqmal Abdul Gaffar.
“There is a lot of relief. I am glad the players showed the strength and determination to score two goals in the last quarter to seal victory. We will look at one game at a time and hope to improve our performance in the next match against Penang tomorrow,” he added.
Perlis surprised Johor with a fourth minute field goal to go 1-0 ahead but national player Mohamad Kamarulzaman Kamaruddin restored parity for Johor 14 minutes into the match from a penalty corner conversion.
The hosts then produced an energetic performance to extend the lead to 3-1 from Muhammad Shafiq Sani’s 49th minute penalty corner conversion, and Muhammad Haziq Zunnurain’s 53rd minute field goal.
Perak, the 13-time champions, also survived a scare against Sabah before turning on the power in the fourth quarter for a 5-4 victory in this Group B encounter.
The east Malaysian state was slow to start but produced countless chances only to let them slip away while Perak got back to winning ways.
Speedy Tigers’ forward Muhammad Azrai Aizad Abu Kamal scored a hat-trick (3th, 21st and 40th) while penalty corner specialist Syed Mohamed Syed Shafiq Syed Cholan scored a brace (3rd and 52nd minutes).
Sabah, who missed the opportunity to turn the tables on their far more illustrious opponent, scored through Muhammad Saifuddin Azli (4th), Alves Christiano James (18th), Muhammad Salman Sudirman (45th) and Mohamad Faid Farhadh (56th).
Pahang showed no mercy as the east coast state humbled a young Singapore side, whose ages range between 18 and 19, with the highest score of 18-0 on Day 1 of the tournament.
The Singaporeans arrived at Taman Daya Hockey Stadium eager and full of enthusiasm. It was their first of six Group A matches in the tournament, and like any other college and high school students, they would be excited to return home after the conclusion of the tournament on Oct 12 with a ‘barrel full of knowledge and experience’.
But unfortunately, that was not to be. It was more of a demolition exercise by the big boys against the younger unexperienced players who had their first heart-breaking lesson.
Pahang scored through Tengku Nasrul Ikmal (5th, 16th, 46th); Muhammad Noor Firdaus Rosdi (5th, 58th); Muhammad Idris Samad (24th, 49th); Muhammad Danish Irfan (30th, 49th); Muhammad Arif Syafie (9th); Muhammad Atif Aqil (10th); Muhammad Arif Haikal (11th); Ismail Abu (19th); Syafiq Ikhmal (26th); Muhammad Syawal Abdul Razak (47th); Muhammad Nor Daniel (47th); Syamil Azmi (54th) and Muhammad Shamir Rizmi (60th).
The Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM) and Terengganu encounter was hotly contested before Terengganu registered a 3-1 victory.
ATM started sharply to take the lead in the 27th minute through Azrin Azman’s 27th minute field goal but Terengganu overturned the deficit with three penalty corner conversions through Faizal Saari (30th), Muhamad Firhan Ashari (40th) and Muhammad Aiman Faris (44th) to start their journey on a winning run.
In another match, Negeri Sembilan gave a spirited performance to win 2-1 against the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) in Group A. Raja Irsyaduddin Raja Azmi Yazir (24th) and Shafy Shahymm Huzzeini (31st) converted penalty corners.
PDRM reduced the deficit by replying through Baljit Singh via a 48th minute penalty stroke.
In the last Group A match of the day, nine-time champions Selangor suffered a blow when they went down 3-0 against Penang.