Thursday March 1, 2012

Thunderbolt as good as in final thanks to hat-trick hero Sufi

BY AFTAR SINGH

KUALA LUMPUR: Mohd Sufi Ismat scored a hat-trick to steer defending overall champions Tunku Mahkota Ismail Sports School (SSTMI)-Thunderbolt to a convincing 5-2 win over MBI-Anderson in the Milo Cup semi- final first-leg at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil.

Thunderbolt, who won the Division One title two weeks ago, are virtually through to the final. The return-leg will be played at the same venue tomorrow.

Sufi, who was on target in the 24th, 38th and 45th minutes, has so far scored 14 goals. Mohd Khairol Shafik Kasin (12th) and skipper Shazril Irwan Nazli (40th) got the other two goals.

Mohd Najib Abu Hassan (13th) and Azril Misron (22nd) replied for MBI-Anderson.

Time to go: National hockey players (from left) Azreen Rizal Nasir, Mohd Izzat Mohd Rahim, Izwan Firdaus Ahmad Tajuddin, Mohd Marhan Mohd Jalil and Faizal Saari getting ready to board the bus in Bukit Jalil yesterday. The team left for Cardiff last night. Inset: Mohd Amin Rahim. — M. AZHAR ARIF / The Star

Despite the impressive scoreline, Thunderbolt, who trounced the Ipoh team 6-0 in a league match, were lacklustre in the first-half.

Thunderbolt found themselves 2-1 down in the 22nd minute before fighting back to equalise in the 24th.

And they only came alive in the second half.

Thunderbolt coach Wan Roslan Wan Abdul Rahman was clearly annoyed with his defenders’ lapse of concentration.

“They took it easy and gave away two early goals. We can’t do that in the return-leg on Friday,” said Wan Roslan.

It’s mine: Thunderbolt’s Amir Zulkarnain Ahmad Robangi gets to the ball ahead of MBI-Anderson’s Mohd Alif Noor Faizal (left) and Mohd Akmal Mohd Tajuddin during their Milo Cup semi-final first-leg match in Bukit Jalil yesterday. — M. AZHAR ARIF / The Star

“I am also disappointed with our poor penalty corner conversation rate. We earned two and failed to convert both.”

In the other semi-final, Division One runners-up Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) came back from a goal down to grab a hard-fought 3-1 win over former five-time double champions Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS).

BJSS started off well, taking the lead in the 13th minute through Norshafiq Sumantri.

UniKL, who won the overall title in 2010, hit back through a Mohd Haziq Samsul penalty corner goal in the 34th minute.

UniKL kept up the pressure after the break to take a 2-1 lead through Mohd Hafiz Zainol in the 40th minute.

BJSS earned two penalty corners in the last 15 minutes but failed to convert.

Mohd Syafiq Zulzairin made them pay for it when he fired past goalkeeper Mohd Hazrul Faiz in the 65th minute for the third goal.

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