22 Sep Sallehin brings joy toTNB Thunderbolt

TNB Thunderbolt emerged champions of the TNBMHL 2015 Division One President’s Cup once again following a 2-1 victory over Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil Saturday.

Mohamed Sallehin Abdul Ghani was the toast of TNB Thunderbolt for turning the match around in favour of the 2013 champions with a 66th minute penalty corner strike after both teams were tied 1-1 with the looming threat of the match going into a penalty shootout.

TNB, who finished third in the Division One League behind eventual champions UiTM and ATM Airod, went into the lead with a 23th minute penalty corner goal through Muhammad HanafiAzemibut Abdul Rauf Mohd Nazriequalised for UiTM in the 38th minute from a penalty corner.

UiTM, however, replaced goalkeeper Muhamad Fitri Jasni with Mohd Rafiuddin Mohd Dahario who played the role of ‘kicking back’ four minutes into the final whistle.

TNB Thunderbolt went home with RM30,000 as champions while UiTM – the Division One champions, received RM20,000.

The third-fourth placing playoff match between Ipoh City Council and ATM Airod turned into goals galore as an estimated 400 fans witnessed a total of 15 goals scored, the highest ever in a single match throughout the TNBMHL 2015 season.

Ipoh City Council eventually emerged winners 9-6 and took home RM10,000while ATM Airod received RM5,000.

ArshadRepikhaliwas the toast of Ipoh City Council by netting five goals (7th, 36th, 46th, 52nd and 68th) to take his personal tally to 18 in the tournament and was aptly picked for the top scorer award which comes with an RM1,000 reward.

The others came through SofianKamaruddin (58th), Mohd Najme Ahmad Hayazi (59th), HairulNizamAb Rani (65th) and ShahrusahadanBasri (70th).

ATM Airodreplied through a hat-trick from Razali Mohd Hazemi(14th, 19th and 38th) and assisted by AbdGhafar Mohd Nordin (20th, 53rd) and Mohamed IzuanMismanin the 35th minute.

Meanwhile, an official of the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) Technical Committee clarified that the two-match suspension served on UiTM players Taufik Abdul Hamid and RazaleeYahya an hour before the second-leg semifinals on Friday was within the rules.

Both players were hauled up for arguing and pushing umpire Mohd Rahizan Mohamed Ramli in Wednesday’s first-leg semi-final match against Ipoh City Council.

“We received the match report immediately from the umpire after the game but could not take action against the duo as the Technical Committee received the video clip of the match on Thursday. Having seen the video it was unanimously agreed there was a serious breach of conduct by the players,” he said.

“Hence we called up the players on Friday at 3.0pm but they arrived late. A decision was arrived after hearing what they (players) had to say,” he added.