ATM VIRTUALLY THROUGH TO SEMIS

 Last year losing finalists Armed Forces are virtually through to the last four of the Raja Noora Ashikin Cup when they defeated Singapore 3-0 at the Seremban 2 Hockey Stadium.

With 12 points from four wins, Armed Forces, who are in Group A will play two matches on Sunday, against Perak in the morning followed by Kedah at night, and need only one win to book their place in the semis.

Close on their heels are Kedah who have 9 points and will also play tow matches, against Singapore in the morning before the cruncher later in the day.

Armed Forces opened scoring in the 6^th minute through Nurul Asyadah Ahmad Shapawi who converted a penalty corner.

Izzuin Ismail made it 2-0 in the 0^th minute before adding another six minutes before time in a match where Armed Forces defender Juliani Mohamma Din and skipper Nadia Abdul Rahman, both national players hardly broke into a sweat.

“We have two matches tomorrow and need to play smartly as we need three points for a place in the semis. Though we are playing well, there is still the issue of not converting chances, but we aim to improve on this area,” said Armed Forces manager Azlan Shah Abdul Aziz.

Meanwhile KL Sukma blew their chances of a place in the semis when they were held to a 1-1 draw by unsung Penang.

Penang led 1-0 through a goal by Nurizwana Ahmad Tajuddin. KL only equalised in the 70^th minute via a penalty corner converted by Nur Syafiqah Mohd Zain.

In another match, Sarawak notched up their third succesive win by defeating SMPJ 2, 5-0 to consolidate their position in Group A.

Sarawak opened scoring in the 19^th minute through Shelly Bayang. They doubled their advantage via Ivana Sofia Beriak in the 23^rd minute.

Coached by former Selangor player C. Sivasubramaniam, the Sarawakians showed good basics and were never troubled in the match and added three more goals in the second half via Lora King (39^th minute), Janeth Kadir (48^th minute) and Shelly (69^th minute).

GROUP A

                                                P         W        D         L         G         A         PTS

Armed Forces                    4         4         0         0         25       2         12

Kedah                                   4         3         0         1         11       2         9

Sarawak                               5         3         0         2         9         5         9

Malacca                                3         2         0         1         11       5         6

Singapore                            4         1         1         2         8         5         4

Perak                                    3         0         1         2         3         5         1

SMK PJ2                               5         0         0         5         0         43       0

GROUP B

                                                P         W        D         L         G         A         PTS

Terengganu                         4         4         0         0         15       1         12

KL Sukma                            5         3         1         1         20       5         10

PDRM                                    4         3         0         1         13       5         9

Penang                                 5         2         1         2         8         9         7

N. Sembilan                         5         1         0         4         6         13       3

MS Politeknik                     5         0         0         5         3         32       0

Results

Group A

SMK PJ 2 0  Sarawak 5

Singapore 0  Armed Forces 3

Malacca  Perak

Group B

Penang 1 KL Sukma 1

Negeri Sembilan 3 SM Politeknik 1

PDRM  Terengganu

Fixtures (Sunday)

Group A

7.30am – Armed Forces v Perak

7.30am – Singapore v Kedah

5.00pm – Malacca v Sarawak

7.00pm – Kedah v Armed Forces