KUCHING: The Sarawak men’s hockey team finished 12th after losing to Selangor in the match for 11th place at the Kuching South City Council (MBKS) Hockey Stadium today (August 22).
They lost to Selangor 0-1 after the visiting team managed to score in the fourth quarter of the game, marking the end of the team’s hockey journey for the 21st Malaysia Games (SUKMA XXI) 2024.
From the first quarter until the third quarter of the game, the men’s hockey team put up a great fight against the visiting team, attempting to score.
However, minutes before the end of the fourth quarter of the game, the visiting team successfully scored a goal through a penalty given by the umpire or referee.
Reflecting on the team’s journey throughout SUKMA 2024, head coach Dangerouslee Mathew admitted that the team lacked consistency from their first match until the most recent ones.
“Simple mistakes could have been avoided, and if the team had been consistent throughout their games, I believe we would have gone much further.
“That being said, I would like to see them participate in more tournaments after SUKMA,” he told reporters after the match.
Despite the losses and lack of consistency, Dangerouslee praised the team for their improved skills throughout SUKMA 2024.
Dangerouslee mentioned that compared to the previous matches, they followed his planned strategies, including the positioning of the players.
“All we need at this point is for the team to build more chemistry.
“The lack of chemistry was because they could not train together as much as we wanted. Some of them are still in school and live in hostels, so it is very difficult to have them train together more often.
“For example, they train for over 10 days in a month, but afterwards, they return home and that is the end of it. We need the full squad to train consistently throughout the year; only then will we achieve the necessary consistency,” he added.
He also apologized on behalf of the men’s hockey team for the losses, noting that they had done their best.
