Eleven Warrior’s advisor Johan Zaidil looks on as coach Mjr Zaukarnaein Muda(in white) addresses the team after their match against One XOX on Saturday at the Sarawak Hockey Stadium.
KUCHING: One XOX closed out their group stage in the TNB Sarawak Hockey League with a perfect record to top the Men’s Group A.
They pipped Eleven Warrior 4-3 on Saturday and then cruised past MatHoc 5-1 on Sunday to stay as the only unbeaten side in the group.
In Saturday’s match at the Sarawak Hockey Stadium, they were down 2-0 against Warrior by the 12th min.
M Sufian Marsom gave Warrior the lead in the 4th min with a penalty corner goal and Ahmad Rafifi then slotted home a field goal eight minutes later.
XOX’s comeback started in the 33rd min with Mohd Redzuan’s field goal followed by captain Anderson Sigat’s equalizer in the 37th min.
Ahmad E Kipli’s field goal gave them the lead in the 43rd min and ace sniper M Izzat Afifi scored an insurance marker a minute later.
Iskandar Fahmi Razali converted a penalty corner for Warrior in the 59th min but it was too little too late.
“We lost our key defender Cpl Asri M Nor at the end of the first-half and that really hurt us,” said Warrior coach Mjr Zulkarnaien Muda.
Their opponents agreed.
“The absence of their defender, who played as the last man, did help us.
“It gave us more room to attack,” said XOX captain Abderson Sigat.
“We were not worried when we fell behind,” said Izzat.
“We adjusted our strategy and played more tactically as well as a more mixed game,” he added.
On Sunday, Izzat scored twice in the first half against MatHoc.
He completed his hattrick in the 39th min to help his team to a comfortable victory.
In Group A action, Kuching Hockey Association (KHA) began their campaign with a 1-1 draw against unbeaten Belia Git on Saturday.
Belia then beat Sarawak Energy(SEB) 5-1 on Sunday to lift their chances of making the playoffs.
KHA stayed unbeaten when they dismantled Muara Tuang Old Boys 5-1 on Sunday.
Borneo Young Bloods narrowly beat SEB 2-0 and then hammered Warrior 5-0 to stay in strong contention for the playoffs.
In a battle of the cellar dwellers, MTOB squeaked past Warrior 1-0.
In the Women’s Open, All Division staffed by a plethora of past state players had to work hard to overcome SMK Bako 2-1.