Favourites Terengganu brace for a more powerful Tenaga in TNB Cup final

Out of my hands: Terengganu captain Faizal Saari drops his stick after a tussle for the ball with Tenaga Nasional’s Muhd Aminuddin Mohd Zain in their Malaysian Hockey League match. — Bernama

PETALING JAYA: Terengganu may have the edge over Tenaga Nasional in the TNB Cup final after edging them twice 3-2 in the Malaysian Hockey League (MHL).

But it’s the Charity Shield winners and League champions who are feeling edgy ahead of the showdown at the National Hockey Stadium tomorrow.

The East Coast outfit are highly fancied to complete the treble but coach Roslan Jamaluddin is thinking thrice about the Cup final, which he doesn’t expect to be a straightforward affair.

“It will be very different from the last two matches we played against Tenaga. We won’t be entering the field as favourites although the stats favour us. We must prepare for a strenuous match that will take longer than expected,’’ said Roslan.

‘’The important thing is that my players are physically ready and have a strong mindset to go all the way in the last game of the season.”

Led by charismatic striker Faizal Saari, who has scored 25 goals in all competitions so far, Terengganu have been superb throughout their MHL campaign, combining flair with grit to a devastating degree.

But Tenaga have sounded a clear warning with a 5-1 thrashing of Maybank in the second-leg semi-final on Monday, which saw them advance into the final on a 6-3 aggregate.

Terengganu, on the other hand, struggled to a 1-0 win over UiTM to progress 2-1 on aggregate.

Faizal, who fired home the solitary goal in the 27th minute, said the match against UiTM was one of the toughest he had faced.

“We had a hard time dealing with their robust defending. But we played with patience and somehow got the goal to get into the final. I guess it won’t get any easier against Tenaga,’’ he said.