KUALA LUMPUR: The national Under-21 players, under the guise of the Young Tigers, escaped with a narrow 2-1 win over TNB Thunderbolts in a Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) match at National Hockey Stadium, Bukit Jalil today.
Khairul Norizam (fifth) and Wan Najmie Ahmad Dzaib (54th) saved the blushes for the national outfit preparing for the KL Junior World Cup in December with their goals.
Thunderbolts scored through Muhibuddin Moharam in the 58th.
In the first round, Tigers had also scraped past Thunderbolts 3-1.
Thunderbolts coach Wan Roslan Wan Rahman injected 16 new players this season, and many are 16-18 years old.
"It's nice to see my young players narrow the gap against Tigers as we only have four players from last season.
"The rest are new players. This is because Thunderbolts had released the bulk of our players to the national Juniors (Tigers)," said Wan Roslan.
RESULTS:
Men: Maybank 9 NurInsafi Sporting 0, UiTM-HA 1 Tenaga Nasional 2, TNB Thunderbolts 1 Young Tigers 2.
FIXTURES:
SATURDAY: UiTM-HA v Armed Forces (National Stadium I, 6pm), NurInsafi Sporting v TNB Thunderbolts (Bertam, 8pm), Maybank v Terengganu HT (National Stadium II, 6pm), Young Tigers v Tenaga Nasional (National Stadium I, 8pm).
SUNDAY -- WOMEN: Terenggan Ladies v KPT-UniTen (Batu Buruk, 5pm), Mutiara Impian v Young Tigress (Bertam, 5pm), Negri Sembilan v CS Hockey Team (Seremban II, 5pm).