Malaysia had to dig deep in the Cape Town heat to hold off a spirited Scotland side, securing a 4-2 victory and fifth place in the FIH Men’s Hockey Nations Cup at Hartleyvale Stadium on Saturday.
The Asian outfit made a far stronger start than in some of their previous matches and established a 2-0 lead by halftime.
However, Scotland, who showed admirable resilience throughout the tournament, mounted an impressive comeback and drew level late in the third quarter.
Malaysia responded immediately. With just 15 seconds remaining in the period, they restored their lead with a crucial goal before Mohammad Azrai Abu Kamal calmly converted a penalty stroke 10 minutes from time to re-establish a two-goal cushion and put the result beyond doubt.
Afterwards, Malaysia coach Brendon Carolan said his team’s focus had been on improving their ball retention and reducing unforced errors.
“Our focus was to be better on the ball and not turn it over too much,” he said.
“I think the heat probably helped us a little because it took some of the energy out of Scotland. They’ve been really good throughout this tournament and are a tough team to play against.
“They probably couldn’t go man-to-man as much as they would have liked and that worked in our favour.”
Carolan admitted the tournament had not unfolded exactly as Malaysia had hoped, but was pleased to finish on a winning note.
“For us, it was important to get a result at the end because this tournament wasn’t exactly where we wanted to be,” he said.
“We started the week well with the win over Scotland, but then we had two really poor games. The teams we played were better than us on those days.
“We now need to identify where our weaknesses are and work on fixing them going forward.”
In the first game of the day, Ireland finished seventh with an emphatic 5-1 win over United States.
Reflecting on their campaign Irish coach Mark Tumilty said he was pleased to see his side end on a positive note, while acknowledging there were lessons to take from the tournament.
“It’s satisfying because we scored some of the goals we have been looking for,” he said.
“I don’t think we have been ruthless enough in the circle throughout the tournament. When you look at the top nations, they are all clinical in that area, so it was important for us to put together a decent scoreline today.
“But we were a little bit soft in certain moments during the rest of the tournament and that probably cost us. I feel we left chances out there against South Africa and the United States, and ultimately we missed out because of goal difference.”
Tumilty said the focus would now shift to applying the lessons learnt in Cape Town as Ireland continue their preparations for next year’s World Cup.
“It’s important that we take what we’ve learnt from this tournament and use it as we build towards the World Cup and our opening game against Australia,” he said.
“It’s always positive to finish with a win. The final game of a tournament can be a challenge because it’s easy for players to switch off mentally.
“So it’s pleasing that we stayed focused and were able to produce a strong performance and finish with a good victory.”
Scorers:
5th/6th: Malaysia 4 (Faizal Saari, Mohammad Azrai Abu Kamal 2, Mohamad Anuar Esook); Scotland 2 (David Nairn, Jamie Golden).
7th/8th: Ireland 5 (Ben Nelson 2, Alistair Empey, Matthew Nelson, Greg Williams); United States 1 (Sekayi Charasika).
Late matches
4.45pm, 3rd/4th: New Zealand v Japan
7pm, final: South Africa v France
