The competition for the fourth week of the TNB Malaysia Hockey League (TNB MHL) 2024 (Premier) opened with Maybank, Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) and Nurinsafi Sporting scoring big goals in victories achieved when they met their respective opponents.
There was no change in the league’s top five rankings with TNB remaining the leader followed by Maybank, Terengganu Hockey Team (THT), Nurinsafi Sporting and UITM HA-KPT.
The list of top scorers so far has seen TNB striker Muhammad Azrai Aizad Abu Kamal top with 17 goals in total followed by Nur Rahull Hrsikesa Thaitchana Muruthi (Nurinsafi Sporting – 14 goals), Jang Jong Hyun (TNB – 13 goals) and Muhammad Razie Abd Rahim (Maybank) – 11 goals) The Maybank and Young Elephants-Pahang meeting that took place today at the Bukit Jalil National Hockey Stadium (1) saw Maybank win 9-0 and the victory made the total number of goals scored at this time 41 goals and they have conceded as many 6 goals.
Of the 9 goals scored today, five of them were penalty corner goals while three were field goals and one stroke penalty with Shahmie Irfan Suhaimi scoring a hat trick for Maybank.
The manager of Maybank, Azrul Effendy Bistamam is very satisfied with the victory achieved and the addition of three points is also very valuable for Maybank to continue to challenge the top three positions in the league, but agrees that there are still shortcomings, especially in ending scoring opportunities. “We gave up some of the best opportunities to add goals but I am still satisfied with today’s results. As for penalty corners, there is a lot of homework for the team to do after the string of penalty corners we had, we didn’t translate into goals.
“For the next action, meeting UITM HA-KPT will definitely not be an easy match because they are lined up with experienced players. But our focus is how to get three points from the match and at the same time not to underestimate the ability of the opponent,” he said.
While the league leader, TNB who went down to meet Kuala Lumpur City continued to score big goals after defeating the opponent 13-0 and the goal saw the end of a total of eight games, TNB has scored 65 goals while conceding 9 goals.
In today’s action as well, Muhammad Azrai Aizad Abu Kamal emerged as the top scorer for his team after scoring 5 goals followed by Muhammad Shahril Saabah, 3 goals, Syed Mohamad Syafiq Syed Cholan, 2 goals while Norsyafiq Sumantri, Shello Silverius and Azril Misron each contributed one goal In that, two matches that took place earlier at 4:00 pm at the Bukit Jalil National Hockey Stadium (1 & 2) had to be ended early due to heavy rain which caused the match that had passed 30 minutes to be ended according to the rules of the match.
THT who went down to meet Angkatan Tentera Malaysia (ATM) was clearly on the best track to challenge for the league title after recording their sixth win, the latest beating ATM, 4-1.
THT scored four field goals starting with Faizal Saari’s goal in the fifth minute, before the 16th minute, ATM regained the 1-1 position thanks to a field goal by their imported player, Frank Atwo Marna.
In the 17th minute, Muhammad Abid Sufian Mat Ruslee took the lead again before a minute later it was the turn of the Team Captain, Mohd Fitri Saari to widen the goal gap.
THT’s 4-1 winning goal came in the 30th minute after Faizal Saari once again scored his second personal goal and the match ended with a 4-1 victory for THT.
The operator of THT, Mohd Harfizi Baharom was clearly satisfied with the action that his men had shown and described his players as consistently going down to play with a focus on ensuring that the full three points were achieved.
“THT still has a chance to challenge for the championship and the remaining matches, we will continue to compete and try to finish the match with three points to continue competing for the championship.
“Our next match will not be taken lightly when we meet Kuala Lumpur City because this team surprised our rival Maybank with a draw. What we will do, we will continue to try to play as well as possible in the match,” he explained.
UITM HA-KPT who met TNB Thunderbolts also won three points after defeating their opponent 4-2 while the match which took place at the Bertam Hockey Stadium, Penang saw Nurinsafi Sporting collect three points as a result of a 10-4 victory over JM Antsbees which was also a victory Nurinsafi’s sixth after eight games.
Next Match (Friday – 23 Feb 24)
TNB THUNDERBOLTS v JM ANTSBEES (Bukit Jalil National Hockey Stdm (1) – 4:00 pm)
by Asia Hockey
