Shahril scores twice to sink England in Sultan of Johor Cup

Malaysia

JOHOR BARU: Forward Mohd Shahril Saabah is living a dream in the Sultan of Johor Cup.

The Kuala Lumpur-born netted two penalty corner goals to steer Malaysia to a convincing 3-1 win over England at the Taman Daya Stadium on Wednesday to surge to the top of the standings.

Malaysia need a win over Pakistan today to seal a place in the final. Their last round-robin match is against India on Saturday.

Shahril gave Malaysia the lead after only nine minutes. Defender Mohd Izad Hakimi Jamaluddin then doubled the score, also through a penalty corner, in the 43rd minute.

Shahril was again on target in the 56th minute. It was his fifth goal in three matches.

Skipper Andrew Peter Bull netted England’s consolation goal through a penalty corner in the 61st minute.

Malaysia coach K. Dharmaraj was full of praise for his players.

“They played their hearts out. We are on the right track for the Junior World Cup in New Delhi in December,” he said.

The only thing that Dhamaraj was unhappy about was the forwards’ inability to score a single field goal.

“I’m pleased with our penalty corner takers. My only concern is our strike force as the forwards are not sharp in front of goal. We were not aggressive enough against England in the first half,” said Dharmaraj.