KUALA LUMPUR: Newcomers Negri Sembilan whipped Mutiara Impian 8-0 to signal their intentions in the women's Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) today.
Negri, powered by six national players, forced Mutiara to defend the entire match as they missed more than 12 other scoring chances.
Nuramirah Shakirah Zulkifli (9th, 16th, 33rd minutes), Nur Afiqah Syahzani Azhar (24th, 26th), Fatin Naimah Zaki (35th), Hanis Nadiah Onn (42nd) and Liyana Aqilah Mohd Sepawi (43rd) were the scores for Negri.
"Mutiara Impian had parked the bus throughout the match. My girls missed more than 12 chances, but in the end, we did get enough goals to start our league campaign on a comfortable note.
"I see Uniten Thunderbolts as our main rivals this season. I hope my girls keep improving after every match as we only had a short preparation time," said Negri coach K. Rajan.
National Development Team (NDT), meanwhile, were edged 1-0 by Uniten Thunderbolts.
Uniten Thunderbolts have nine national players, while NDT are a Malaysia Hockey Confederation (MHC) entry in the MHL.
National player Siti Nur Arfah Nor delivered the solitary goal to save Uniten Thunderbolts the blushes.
In another match, Sabah beat Sarawak 2-0 courtesy of goals from Nur Syafiqah Zain (seventh) and Melanie Juim (13th).
RESULTS -- Women: Negri Sembilan 8 Mutiara Impian 0, Sarawak 0 Sabah 2, Uniten Thunderbolts 1 National Development 0.
TODAY -- Men: TNB Thunderbolts v THT (Pitch I, 5pm), UiTM v Nurinsafi (Pitch II, 5pm), Maybank v National Development (Pitch I, 8pm).
* matches at National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil