Sore point for Malaysia after 10-goal thriller ends in draw

JOHOR BARU: Malaysia finally recorded their first point in the Sultan of Johor Cup after their match with New Zealand ended in a thrilling 5-5 draw.

The result is still very disappointing for the national youth squad as they had taken a 3-0 lead within the first 10 minutes last night.

Malaysia started strongly when Lokman Hakim Asri put his side in the lead with a goal in the seventh minute.

Shello Silverius doubled Malaysia lead’s two minutes later with a field goal.

Mamat Adam then scored Malaysia’s third goal with another field goal in the 10th minute much to the delight of the home fans at the Taman Daya hockey stadium here.

New Zealand, however, pulled a goal back when they converted a penalty corner by Rueben Andrews in the 11th minute to make it 3-1.

Malaysia immediately responded through Muhammad Azrai Azaid Abu Kamal, who scored a field goal in the 12th minute for a 4-1 lead.

Andrews then scored his second goal through another penalty corner in the 15th minute to make it 4-2 just before the end of the first quarter.

Malaysia’s poor defending enabled New Zealand to claw their way back with Sam Hiha scoring a field goal in the 30th minute to make it 4-3.

New Zealand piled on the pressure and it paid off when Rueben scored his third goal through a penalty corner in the 48th minute to make it 4-4.

Muhammad Hafiz Mohd Zauri put Malaysia back in the lead when he converted a penalty corner with just three minutes left to make it 5-4.

Hiha scored his second of the match through a field goal in the 60th minute to make sure that both teams shared a point.