Peillat powers Terengganu to end Tenaga’s winning streak

KUALA LUMPUR: Terengganu rode on the strength of Argentine Gonzalo Peillat to end Tenaga Nasional’s winning streak in the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL).

The defender converted two penalty corners in the space of three minutes in the third quarter to steer Terengganu to a 2-0 win over Tenaga at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.

With the victory, the East Coast team lead the six-team Premier Division with 10 points from three wins and a draw.

As for Tenaga, it was their first defeat in four matches and they dropped to second with nine points.

Terengganu showed more urgency yesterday and almost took a 13th-minute lead when Faizal Saari’s cross from the right was well connected into goal by Lopez Barreiros of Argentina.

But the goal was disallowed when Tenaga players claimed that the ball hit the foot of one of their defenders in the semi-circle before going in.

Umpire Mohd Rais, who blew for goal initially, surprisingly changed his decision and called for a penalty corner instead.

Faizal took the penalty corner but his drag flick was well saved by Tenaga goalkeeper Mohd Hairi Abdul Rahman.

Faizal had a chance to give Terengganu the lead in the 20th minute but his reverse stick attempt was blocked by Hairi again.

Terengganu continued their relentless attacks and they finally sounded the board in the 31st minute off a penalty corner.

Peillat’s powerful high drag flick hit the top corner of the net, giving goalkeeper Hairi no chance.

Terengganu kept up the pressure and three minutes later, Peillat – rated the best drag flicker in the world – scored off a low flick. It was his seventh goal in four matches.

Tenaga, impressive in the first three matches, were out of their depth this time.

Peillat was delighted after helping Terengganu to the top of the standings.

“It was an important win for us as we needed full points to stay in contention for the league title,” said Peillat.

“We took control of the match from the start and we also made fewer mistakes.

“We hope to play much better in our next match against UniKL (Universiti Kuala Lumpur) on Sunday to stay top of the standings.”

Tenaga coach Nor Saiful Zaini was disappointed with his players for missing a number of chances.

“We played a slow game. Our young players didn’t play to their true form and we also failed to earn a single penalty corner,” said Nor Saiful.

At the adjacent pitch, UniKL came back from a goal down to beat TNB-Thunderbolt 3-1 to register their second win in four matches. They are third in the standings with seven points.