Fitri keeps his word by leading Terengganu to title decider

PETALING JAYA: Terengganu skipper Fitri Saari (pic) walked the talk as he scored a hattrick against TNB Thunderbolts to help his team take the fight down to the wire in the Malaysian Hockey League (MHL).

A 5-1 win over TNB Thunderbolts at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil last night ensures Terengganu remain in contention for their second trophy.

Terengganu beat Tenaga 3-2 to win the Charity Shield trophy last month.

With yesterday’s win, Terengganu have 29 points and are just one point behind league leaders Tenaga.

The two teams meet on Tuesday to decide the league title with Tenaga needing only a draw to clinch the crown.

Terengganu’s Fitri, who told his men they have to beat Thunderbolts to stay in the hunt for the league title, led the way with a double strike in the second quarter (26th and 32nd minutes) to give his side a good half-time lead.

Noor Firdaus Rosdi and Sufi Ismat Rohulamin then scored in the 49th and 52nd minute to put Terengganu further ahead.

Faizal got his hattrick in the 55th minute before Mohd Shamir Rizmi scored a consolation goal for the Thunderbolts four minutes later.

Maybank secured third place in the league after beating the National Development Team 6-0. In the women’s competition, Malaysia Hockey League champions Negri Sembilan will start as the favourites against KPT-Uniten Thunderbolts in the final of the Vivien May Soars Cup.

But KPT-Uniten Thunderbolts do not plan to let Negri walk away with a second trophy.

Coach Lailin Abu Hassan is not giving up yet.

“We lost once and drew once with Negri. But this is the final and anything can happen,” he said.

“Our players were on form to beat Sabah 2-0 yesterday to secure our place in the final and I hope they will continue to keep their focus.

“We will come out with the best strategy to stop their strikers, especially Hanis Nadiah Onn,” he added. RESULTS & STANDINGS

MEN

TERENGGANU 5 TNB T’BOLTS 1

NUR INSAFI 1 UiTM 9

NDT 0 MAYBANK 6

P W D L F A Pts

TENAGA 11 10 0 1 67 11 30

TERENGGANU 11 9 2 0 48 17 29

MAYBANK 11 7 1 3 50 22 22

UITM 11 5 1 5 32 33 16

TNB T’BOLTS 11 4 0 7 22 32 12

NDT 12 2 0 10 13 70 6

NUR INSAFI 11 0 0 11 10 58 0

VIVIAN MAY SOARS CUP

TODAY’S FIXTURES

n FINAL

NEGRI SEMBILAN vs KPT-UNITEN

(National Hockey Stadium, 6.30pm)

n THIRD-FOURTH PLACING

NDT vs SABAH

(National Hockey Stadium 1, 4pm)