FORCES, KL AND TERENGGANU IN SEMIS

Armed Forces laboured to a 1-0 win over Perak to book their place in the semi finals of the Raja Noora Ashikin Cup at the Seremban 2 Hockey Stadium.

It was the fifth straight win for the Army team with the solitary goal coming in the 69^th minute through the efforts of Suzzana Mohammad Nazir.

Kedah too moved a step closer to the semis from Group A as they edged Singapore, also with a 1-0 scoreline, thanks to a goal by Mawaddah Abu Bakar in the 13^th minute.

Kedah held Armed Forces to a 1-1 draw  have to await the outcome of the Malacca v Singapore match on Monday morning to see if they make the semis.

Kedah has 12 points, the same as Malacca who defeated Sarawak 1-0 this evening.

Malacca enhanced their chances of making the semis when they defeated a gritty Sarawak 3-0 in an evening match. The opening goal was scored by skipper Ayu Malina Zainuddin in the 26^th minute of a clerverly worked penalty corner.

Nuraslinda Said made it 2-0 in the 64^th minute and with the Sarawak players losing confidence, Nor Aisyah Yaccob added a third in the 69^th minute.

For Sarawak though it was a good learninbg experience and as many as three players, Christina Uchat, Ivana Sonia and Lora King caught the eyes of the selectors to be included in the Asia Junior Cup training squad.

“We lacked the experience to challenge for a place in the semis but under these circumstances I am proud of the performance of my girls,” said Sarawak coach C. Sivasubramaniam.

“It was a good learning process for them and hopefully it serves us well in the Sukma next month.

Meanwhile in Group B, KL Sukma made the semis thanks to PDRM’s failure to defeat Terengganu.

PDRM led 2-1 with five minutes remaining and failed to hold on thus allowing the city side to sneak into the last four on goal difference.

“We are given a second life and intend to make full use of it. We lost in the semis last year and with some luck and planning hope to make the final this time around,” said KL coach Rizal Razman.

GROUP A

                                                P        W        D         L         G         A         PTS

Armed Forces                    6         5         1         0         27        3         16

Malacca                                6         5         0         1         21       6         15
Kedah                                   6         4         1         1         13       3         13
Sarawak                               6         3         0         3         9         8         9

Perak                                    6         1         1         4         11         11    4
Singapore                            6         1         1         4         8         8         4

SMK PJ2                               6         0         0         6         0         50       0

GROUP B

                                                P         W        D         L         G         A         PTS

Terengganu                         5         4         1         0         17       3         13

KL Sukma                            5         3         1         1         20       5         10

PDRM                                    5         3         1         1         15       7         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

Armed Forces 1 Perak 0

Singapore 0 Kedah 1

Malacca 3 Sarawak 0

Kedah 1 Armed Forces 1

Perak 7 SMK PJ 2 0

Singapore 0 Malacca 2

Semi Finals

5.00pm -  Armed Forces v KL Sukma

7.00pm – Terengganu v Malacca