Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) carved a 4-2 victory over TNB Thunderbolts in the TNBMHL Premier League match at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil today.
For the first time, UniKLparaded a full squad following the arrival of goalkeeper David Harte whilst Australian Kieran Govers has fully recovered after sustaining a head injury recently.
National player Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin, who suffered a fractured jaw, has been discharged from hospital and joined the players on the side-line today. Doctors have given him between four to six weeks’ recovery period.
“We are interest in the three points. Credit to Thunderbolts for a good performance. These youngsters are fit and our matches against Thunderbolt have always been tough,” said Arul.
“But there are some little things in the team that I am not happy and we are sorting it out. As for Tengku I consider him as a machine that refuses to stay down. He was discharged this morning and even wanted to play today,” he added.
With Dutchman RoelBovendeertleading the attacking machinery and Timothy Deavin, another Australian, marshalling the defence line, expectation of UniKLpulling off another resounding victory was quickly erased by Thunderbolts.
Last Sunday, UniKL thumped UniversitiTeknologi MARA 7-1 at the Tun Razak Hockey Stadium while Thunderbolts went down 2-4 against Hockademy.
Much to UniKL’s surprise, Thunderbolts sounded the board in the fourth minute through Nasrul SyakhirSadikul, pinning the ball past Harte.
The defending League champions, however, bounced back to equalise through drag-flick specialist Muhammad Razie Abdul Rahim’s penalty corner conversion in the 5th minute andIzwan Firdaus extended the lead to 2-1 in the 14th minute via a field goal.
Muhammad FaidFarhadh, one of four players from the development squad enlisted this season, notched the third goal in the 25th minute as UniKLgrabbed a 3-1 lead into the first half break.
The second half got off with another quick move from Thunderbolt and jolted UniKL in the 46th minute with a Muhammad Fahmi Khalid penalty conversion to close the gap 3-2 before Deavin knocked home the fourth goal in the 49th minute to seal UniKL’svictory 4-2.
The overnight group leader moved to second position in the table standings while Tenaga NasionalBerhad (TNB) climbed to the top once again despite both teams sharing 12-equal points. In other matches, TNB outclassed Hockademy6-0 and Terengganu Hockey Team downed UiTM 5-3.
UniKL will now travel to Sungai Petani on Wednesday (22 January) for their match against Nurinsafi.
