Friday, June 3, 2011

Malacca beat fancied Johor 1-0

Kelantan withdrew, so no East Zone Razak Cup Qualifiers...

NEW ZEALAND’S Junior Black Sticks whipped Malaysia’s Project 2013 side 8-0 in the first of four Test series at the McMillan centre in New Zealand yesterday.
Malaysia let in the first goal just two minutes after the start, and the Kiwi Juniors made their attempts count after that with four goals in each half to slaughter the Project side.
“It was a 6pm match played at about Five degrees Celcius and my players just could not get their act together,” said Project 2013 team manager Mirnawan Nawawi.
The Project boys are preparing for the Junior Asia Cup in Malacca next May, which also doubles up as a World Cup Qualifier.
Earlier, Project 2013 played four matches with the Australian Juniors and lost 9-1, 2-1, drew 5-5 and lost 7-2.
Meanwhile, in the South Zone Razak Cup Qualifiers, Malacca beat Johor 1-1 and will play against Negri Sembilan today, where a win will see them play in Division One.
RESULTS -- SOUTH ZONE: Johor 0 Malacca 1.
TOMORROW -- SOUTH ZONE: Negri Sembilan v Malacca (Batu Pahat, 4.30pm); Sunday: Johor v Negri Sembilan (Batu Pahat, 4.30pm).

STANDINGS

NORTH ZONE

P W D L F A Pts
PENANG 3 2 0 1 9 5 6
FORCES 3 2 0 1 8 4 6
PERLIS 3 2 0 1 8 6 6
KEDAH 3 0 0 3 2 12 0

CENTRAL ZONE

P W D L F A Pts
K LUMPUR 3 3 0 0 14 7 9
PERAK 3 2 0 1 9 4 6
SELANGOR 3 1 0 2 5 11 3
PROJECT 2017 3 0 0 3 7 13 0

SOUTH ZONE

P W D L F A Pts
MALACCA 1 1 0 0 1 0 3
JOHOR 1 0 0 1 0 1 0
NEGRI 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

New Zealand juniors serve eight-course dinner..

www.hockeynz.co.nz

Halftime 4-0
Fulltime 8-0
Goal scorers, Callum Bailey (2), Isaac Staples (2), Jacob Smith (2), Abir Mukherjee and James Coughlan.

The Junior Black Sticks men got their series against the Malaysian juniors off to the best possible start with a landslide 8-0 victory at the McMillan centre tonight.
The Junior Black sticks had the edge over their opponent all game, and will have a lot of confidence going into their second game tomorrow.
The first goal came within 2 minutes, after James Coughlan was allowed to weave in and out of the Malaysian defence, and pass into the circle for Callum Bailey to deflect the ball into the goal.
Malaysia looked like it would strike back straight away but Mohammad Fitri's shot was just wide of the goal.
Both teams looked like they could have scored next, as Malaysia looked to use its speed down the middle of the field, while the Junior Black Sticks looked to attack down the wings.
It was not until the 25th minute that the second goal was scored with Bailey scoring his second of the game to give the Junior Black Sticks a 2-0 lead.
The Junior Black Sticks were able to score two more goals with Isaac Staples scoring in the 32nd minute, and then Amir Mukherjee scoring one minute later, to give the Junior Black Sticks a 4-0 lead going into halftime.
Malaysia came out of the second half recharged and looked to take advantage of the lack of urgency the Junior Black Sticks were showing.
At times Malaysia was its own worst enemy trying the barge past the Junior Black Sticks defence instead of using its speed to its advantage.
Once the Junior Black Sticks were able to shake off the half time cobwebs they went about taking apart the Malaysian defence with Coulghan scoring the first goal of the half in the 53rd minute.
A number of times Malaysia looked like it would score but each time it was close a pass would miss its target or would be put out of play.
Towards the end of the game the Malaysian looked like they were tiring, letting lazy defence creep in to its game allowing the Junior Black Sticks to score two more goals from Jacob Smith, and Staples.
Smith scored the final goal of the match in the 70th minute diving vertically half a metre of the ground to deflect a raised ball into the goal, giving the Junior Black Sticks a 8-0 win.

Dundee Girls Down Under

Casey Eastham & Marnie Hudson with crocodile. Epic Moments - www.epicmoments.com.au

Eastham and Hudson are in Darwin to compete in the Australian Hockey League Finals Week and while they two are Hockeyroos teammates, they will become opponents when the NSW Arrows (Eastham) and the OAMPS Queensland Scorchers (Hudson) meet each other on Friday 3 June at the AHL, with the winning team going through to the AHL grand final on Saturday 4 June.
The two will also be looking to impress national coach Adam Commens, with the coach set to announce the new Hockeyroos squad and the 2011 Champions Trophy squad (the Champions Trophy will be played in the Netherlands from June 25) at the conclusion of the AHL on Monday 6 June.
Hockey Australia media release

Malacca gunning for Division One

MALACCA will be gunning for a spot in Division One of the Razak Cup when the South Zone Qualifiers start today at the Batu Pahat pitch.
The South Zone only had three teams in Malacca Negri Sembilan and Johor, and only two will play in Division One while the third-placed side will see action in Division Two.
“As hosts of the Razak Cup, we would definitely be gunning for a top-two finish but it wont be easy.
“Negri and Johor will also be fielding an experienced side for the Qualifier, while we will be banking mostly on youth,” said Malacca coach K. Balakrishnan.
Malacca have 11 under-21 players but will miss five of them who are playing in the Malaysian Schools Sports Sports Council tournament in Johor Baru.
“We finished third in Division One last year, with basically the same players, but will not have the services of five young players this weekend as they are playing in the MSSM tournament in Johor Baru.
“All three teams in the group are almost of the same standard, but I believe Johor have a slight advantage and will be the team to beat,” said Balakrishnan.
Malacca have been training for two weeks and former national player Chua Boon Huat joined them yesterday to give Malacca a bite in attack.
The East Zone will also start this weekend, but after Police and Terengganu pulled out, Pahang and Kelantan will be using the Qualifiers as a warm-up, as both have already qualified to play in Division One.
SOUTH ZONE -- Today: Johor v Malacca (Batu Pahat, 6.30pm); Tomorrow: Negri Sembilan v Johor (Batu Pahat, 6.30pm); Sunday: Malacca v Negri Sembilan (Batu Pahat, 6.30pm).
EAST ZONE: Tomorrow -- Pahang v Kelantan (Kuantan Stadium, 7pm).

STANDINGS

NORTH ZONE

P W D L F A Pts
PENANG 3 2 0 1 9 5 6
FORCES 3 2 0 1 8 4 6
PERLIS 3 2 0 1 8 6 6
KEDAH 3 0 0 3 2 12 0

CENTRAL ZONE

P W D L F A Pts
K LUMPUR 3 3 0 0 14 7 9
PERAK 3 2 0 1 9 4 6
SELANGOR 3 1 0 2 5 11 3
PROJECT 2017 3 0 0 3 7 13 0

SOUTH ZONE

P W D L F A Pts
JOHOR 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
NEGRI 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
MALACCA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

EAST ZONE
P W D L F A Pts
KELANTAN 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
PAHANG 0 0 0 0 0 0 0