KUALA LUMPUR: UITM HA gave Terengganu Hockey Team (THT) a fright with their superb defending in the TNB Cup semi-final first leg in Bukit Jalil today.
UiTM took an early lead, and only conceded one penalty corner in the first half, but they ended up sharing the spoils in the 1-1 draw.
Faris Ros Fadillah was left all alone in the semi-circle in the eighth minute, and he made a turn to beat the THT goalkeeper from close range to steal an early lead.
THT, who have some of the top national players in the country, could not break a stout UiTM and went into the breather looking for answers.
And it came in the form of national player Akhimullah Annuar Essok, who made a deft deflection in the 35th minute to level the score for the Charity Shield and Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) champions.
UiTM had also held THT 1-1 in the first round of the MHL, but lost 4-1 in the return match.
In the other semi-final, Maybank also had a superb game when they beat Tenaga Nasional 2-1 to signal a gruelling return leg on Monday.
Najmi Farizal Jazlan scored two penalty corner goals for Maybank in the 24th and 46th minutes, while Amirul Hamizan Azhar was on target for Tenaga in the 37th minute.
RESULTS
TNB CUP
Semi-finals, 1st leg: Terengganu HT 1 UiTM HA 1, Tenaga Nasional 1 Maybank 2.
FIXTURES
MONDAY
Semi-finals, 2nd leg: Maybank v Tenaga Nasional (National Stadium I, 5pm), UiTM HA v Terengganu HT (National Stadium II, 5pm)