The Malaysian men’s junior hockey team lost 0-2 against the Australian juniors in their third friendly match on Monday at the Queensland State Hockey Centre in Brisbane.
The hosts scored in the 17th and 23rd minutes to register their third consecutive win over the Young Tigers who are touring Brisbane for a six-match series in preparation for the 2024 Sultan of Johor Cup and the Junior Asia Cup (JAC).
Australia won the first friendly match 4-2 and the second 5-2.
National juniors assistant coach I. Vikneswaran said: “The boys have surely improved and narrowed the gap in team and individual confidence. We are still looking at different players and playing options as the purpose of this tour is to prepare for JAC.”
“We now can further see players who can manage high stress or pressure situations. Game wise, we had a couple of chances via field attempts as well as penalty corners but were defended on the line by the goalkeeper and postman.”
The Malaysians will play the fourth and last friendly match against the Burras on July 31 before wrapping up their tour of Down Under with matches against the Queensland Hockey Team on August 1 and August 5.