Tht Dethrone Unikl In Penalty Shootout

Kuala Lumpur (3 April 2021): Terengganu Hockey Team (THT) scripted another chapter of history on a night that turned horror for defending champions Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) as they won the TNB Cup 2-0 in penalty shootout at the National Hockey Stadium today.

Both teams were embroiled in a 4-4 draw at the end of regulation time. Syarman Mat Tee and Muhammad Noor Firdaus scored for THT in the penalty shootout.

For the varsity team, it was an agonizing night. They had earlier witnessed their UniKL Ladies team go down 1-0 against PKS-Uniten-KPT in the final of the Vivian May Soars Cup on the same pitch.

After an absorbing contest in the early stage of the first quarter, Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin Tengku Abdul Jalil braved his way to put his side 2-0 ahead with a brace (ninth and 13th minutes) via a field goal and a penalty stroke conversion.

THT, however, bounced back at the stroke of the first quarter hooter when Faizal Saari restored parity from a field goal.

The four-time TNB Cup champions went on to equalize two minutes into the second quarter through a well-connected penalty comer conversion by Muhammad Arif Syafie Ishak that left goalkeeper Adrian Andy Albert with no chance of stopping the ball before Mohamad Akhimulah Anuar Esook lifted the east coast side to a 3-2 lead in the 19th minute via a field goal.

UniKL, hoping to seal a treble for the second consecutive year following their success in winning the Charity Shied and League titles earlier, had their back against the wall no sooner than they had taken the lead.

UniKL had headed into this summit clash with a 4-2 win over their arch rivals in the league and buried Tenaga Nasional Berhad 4-1 on aggregate in the two-leg TNB Cup semi-finals.

The varsity team, howver, showed great resilience to take the match to the edge and drag flick specialist Muhammad Razie Abdul Rahim made it 3-3 in the 35th minute with a powerful drive past goalkeeper Muhmmad Hafizuddin Othman. THT, however, went 4-3 ahead in the 38th minute with

Faizal scoring a brace from a field goal to take his personal tally to 16 goals in the tournament.

UniKL, who enjoyed a splendid unbeaten record in the league, kept their nerves intact and clawed back to draw level 4-4 through Muhammad Ashran Hamsani’s field goal with nine minutes remaining to the end of the fourth quarter.

Both teams pressed hard in the final few minutes but failed to find the winner as the game went into sudden death shootout.

THT eventually delivered when it mattered most to win 2-0 in the shootout and the cup for the fourth time.