Malaysia were minutes away from defeat as they trailed Great Britain 1-3, but two fantastic goals by ace striker Faisal Saari allowed them to snatch a draw at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh this evening.
It was the second succesive draw for Malaysia after having held Korea to a 1-1 draw the previous day while Britain were left wondering how they let the three points slip out from their grasp.
It was a bad start for Malaysia as Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin got injured in the second minute after clashing with Richard Smith and needed stitches.
The Kangar-born player received a cut just above his right eye after hitting into the shoulder of Richard Smith and he had to be stretched out.
And to make matter worse, four minutes later Britain broke through the Malaysian defence to take the lead through Glenn Kirkham.
Kirkham collect a pass from Matt Daly before pushing the ball past goalkeeper S. Kumar.
But the national team cheered by fans fought back and equalised off their first penalty corner in the ninth minute.
Mohd Amin Rahim push from the edge of the semi circle was swept into goal by Azlan Misron giving no chance to goalkeeper James Fair.
Tengku, however, was back in action 10 minutes later. But it was Britain, who regained the lead in the 20th minute.
Ashley Jackson collected a through pass from Nick Catlin before slamming the ball into goal.
Two minutes later Azlan had the ball in the semi-circle but muffed his chance to get the equalising goal.
Britain, who are ranked fourth in the world, punished Malaysian for poor defending by scoring the third goal in 25th minute through Rob Moore from the top of the D.
Britain earned their first penalty corner in the last seconds of the first-half but Barry Middleton low flick was saved by keeper Kumar.
Malaysia were awarded a penalty corner in the 39th minute but played the same variation, this time it was Marhan Jalil who was entrusted to sweep the ball, but was wrongly position to inflict any real damage.
Great Britain opted for high press to keep the Malaysian defenders busy. But once the ball broke away, the strikers led by Tajuddin, Faisal Saari and Marhan broke through with ease but were unable to create goal scoring chanches.
And then it was all Faisal as he reduced the deficit in the 67th minute with a stupendous reverse before levelling the match in the very next minute, also through a reverse hit.
SUMBER : http://www.azlanshahcup.com
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