KUALA LUMPUR: After a string of good performances, the National Juniors were brought down to earth by Britain in the playoff match for the bronze at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival (AYOF) in Sydney yesterday.
Malaysia lost the match 2-5. Earlier in the round-robin four-nation tournament, Malaysia and Britain drew 4.4.
In other matches, Malaysia performed well too, losing narrowly to Australia (1-2) and drawing with India (5-5).
Yesterday, Britain had little trouble beating Malaysia, scoring three goals in the first half to keep a firm grip on the match.
Kenny Bain scored the opening goal in the 16th minute and Martin Scanlon and Chris Gregg were on target in the 19th and 32nd minutes respectively. The other scorers for Britain were Simon Faulkner (49th) and Gregg (55th).
Malaysia scored through Kavin Kartik (24th) and Faisal Shaari (40th).
Coach K. Rajan said: “Overall there was a dip in performance. Britain capitalised on our mistakes in defence. But it was a good lesson for the players. They must learn to be ready for tough back-to-back matches. They will find this happening in the Junior World Cup Finals.
“We will have a one-day break before we start our friendly series against the local sides. We have arranged for four matches before we return home.”
Australia captured the gold medal, scoring a golden goal in the 76th minute to beat India 2-1. Kieran Govers gave Australia the lead in the third minute. The Indians equalised in the 55th minute through Pramod Kumar to force extra time.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar