NURUL ‘SLICES’ UP UNIKL LADIES
UniTen unleash secret weapon in Vivian May Soars Cup final
UNIVERSITI Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) Ladies paid a heavy price for being complacent in a match they dominated, and handed Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UniTen) the Vivian May Soars Cup on a tame 1-0 score yesterday.
As predicted by Timesport, UniTen’s wily coach Lailin Abu Hassan used a hidden “slice” weapon to defend their title.
League champions UniKL Ladies had five penalty corners and wasted them all, but UniTen nailed their only corner in the 54th minute with a low “slice slap” by 21year-old Nurul Faezah Shafiqah Khalim.
It was Nurul Faezah’s only third goal of the tournament, and UniKL Ladies defenders did not anticipate such a spin.
And when the ball crashed into the board, it extinguished the fire in the League champions and broke their unbeaten run in the Malaysia Hockey League.
“I told my players before the match that all we need is one penalty corner in the final, and it will be the game changer.
“I had noticed that there is a ‘hole’ in their penalty corner defence and I planned to hit that spot,” said Lailin.
Faezah had trained on Friday, and when her only chance came, she made it count.
“When I stepped up to that penalty corner, I knew it was now or never, and sliced the ball just at the right angle and it turned our fortunes around,” she said.
Lailin added: “My players were really determined to retain our Cup even though UniKL were the dominant side today.
“We had lost the League match 3-0 to UniKL but I saw that my players have the qualities to improve, and I impressed on them a ‘winning mentality’ and the Cup fell into our laps for the second consecutive year.”
RESULTS
Vivian May Soars Cup final: Universiti Kuala Lumpur Ladies 0 Universiti Tenaga Nasional 1
Third-fourth: Police Blue Warriors 4 Sabah 0