NEGRI MAKES SEMIS

Negri Sembilan scrapped into the semi finals of the MHC-Milo-NSC-MOE National Under 14 by the skin of their teeth after defeating Terengganu 1-0 at the Seremban Two Hockey Stadium.

The hosts needed a win after Penang had defeated Perak 2-0 in an earlier match but missed so many chances in the first half. A goal by Mohd Shafiq Mohd Zapi in the 40^th minute gave them the points required to make the semis.

Johor, Kuala Lumpur and Perak had earlier assured themsleves a place in the semi finals.

Negri will play Kuala Lumpur in the semis and ironically the man that will be plotting their downfall is Negri born Mohd Madzli Ikmar, the coach of the city side.

“Sentiments will be set aside as I have to be professional in carrying out my job. But Negri are no pushovers as they play with their heart and it was evident in the match against Terengganu,” said Madzli.

“They have been improving from match to match and its not going to be an easy ride. Still I am confident that my team has what it takes to make the final.”

Johor defeated Perlis 5-0 through goals by Mohd Taufik Kamjai (2^nd minute), Mohd Amirul Hanis Abdul Aziz (28^th minute), Muhd Shafiq Hassan (52^nd and 58^th minutes) and Zulsafiq Amirul Mohd Noor Zailan (65^th minute) to book their spot.

Earlier in the morning, defending champions Kuala Lumpur laboured to a 2-1 win over Kelantan.

Perak who had already assured themselves of the top spot in Group B and the result would have not affected their position. And on the top of that they had two players on a yellow card each – Muhd Zaidi Mat Sait and K. Hariharan.

“With the semis only 24 hours away we did not want to risk playing our first team and it was also to rest some kep players as we are in a group that requires teams to play an extra match,” said Perak team manager Manjit Singh.

“The semis aginst Johor will be tough as they have shown marked improvement over the course of the tournament. We need to get a result within the regulation time or we might be in trouble.

“Having said that my team is just raring to go and make the final this time around.”

Penang scored the opening goal through the efforts of Muhd Aiman Asyraff Mansor in the 25^th minute. Muhd Hairul Aswad Suhaimi made it 2-0 for Penang in the 66^th minute.

Semi Final Fixtures:

Saturday, November 24.

1600H: Kuala Lumpur v Negri Sembilan

1800H : Perak v Johor

Results

Group A

Kuala Lumpur 2 Kelantan 1

Johor 5 Perlis 0

Pahang 2 Selangor 3

Kedah 1 Malacca 3

Perak 0 Penang 2

Terengganu 0 Negri Sembilan 1

GROUP A

                                P        W       D        L        F        A        PTS

K. Lumpur              5         4        1         0       14       5           13

Johor                       5         3        1        1        17       4           10

Selangor                  5         3        0        2         11     9            9

Kelantan                  5        2        1         2         4       6            7

Pahang                    5         0        2        3         4      14           2

Perlis                       5         0        1        4         2       13          1

GROUP B

                                P        W       D        L        F      A        PTS

Perak                       6         5        0         1        15      4           15

N. Sembilan            6         4        1         1        15      9           13

Penang                    6         4        0         2        23      13         12

Terengganu             6         2        2         2         11      8           8

Malacca                  6         2       1         3           8      16           7

Sabah                      6         1        1         4          8      17           4

Kedah                     6         0        1         5          4       17           1