JOHOR BARU – The national under-21 hockey squad’s plan to pluck at least one point on the fourth day of the Sultan of Johor Cup hockey tournament (SoJC) at the Taman Daya Hockey Stadium here tonight came up empty when they fell 2-4 to Great Britain.
Great Britain, who won the tournament in 2018 and 2019, started the rout as early as the second minute of the first quarter through Tom Moorhouse’s field goal followed by a second field goal in the 17th minute of the second quarter through Fred Newbold.
The visiting team led by Jon Bleby managed to score the third goal through a penalty corner shot by Jamie Golden from Samuel Taylor's pass in the 34th minute of the third quarter.
Great Britain added to the woes of SoJC’s lowest team managed by Muhammad Amin Rahim when he added a fourth goal through Harrison Stone’s field goal in the 43rd minute of the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Malaysia finally returned the volley through Muhammad Danish Aiman Khairil Anuar’s field goal in the 50th minute, followed by a second goal three minutes later through a penalty corner shot by Shahmie Irfan Suhaimi.
Malaysia were desperate to pick up any points as they have lost all their matches so far, being beaten 1-3 by South Africa on the third day of the SoJC yesterday, losing 0-8 to Australia on the second day on Sunday and losing to India 2-5 in their opening act on Saturday.
Earlier, India and Australia shared one point after being tied 5-5 in SoJC action this afternoon, while South Africa were scheduled to meet Japan at 8.35pm today.
Matches will continue tomorrow with Great Britain meeting India and the hosts will face Japan and Australia playing SoJC debutant South Africa. – Bernama, October 26, 2022
