Senior Men v Malaysia
NHC, Cardiff; 2nd & 4th March
MATCH 1: Friday 2nd March 2012
Wales came up against a well-drilled Malaysian side who were finailising their preparations before taking part in the Olympic Qualifying tournament in Dublin next week. For their part and bearing in mind that it was their first competitive match this season, Wales matched the visitors for the first 22' until Tajuddin and Firdaus both sored from close quarters to give the visitors an interval lead. Both goalkeepers played extremely well with a number of highclass saves being made from panalty corner drag flicks. Malaysia put the game beyond Wales when scoring their third through Misron after 63' before Andy Cornick scored with 3' remaining.
| 20:00 | Wales | 1 | Malaysia | 3 |
MATCH 2: Sunday 4th March 2012 (Friendly match)
With the test match out of the way, and with revenge in their eyes, the Welsh squad set out to get one back in the friendly match against Malaysia. Playing in front of another great crowd, the Welsh team started playing some great possession hockey, frustrating the Malaysian midfield, which was so devastating in the first game. In stopping the counterattacking game the Welsh squad started finding their tempo and style and they began crafting more and more chances and pressuring the Malaysian goal.
The games only goal came in the second half, as a penalty corner routine was expertly pulled off allowing Rufus McNaught-Barrington to slot home and give the victory to Wales.
We want to say a big thank you to the Malaysian squad for coming over to Cardiff and wish them the best of luck in their Olympic Qualifiers in Ireland starting on the 10th March. We also want to thank all the all the officials and umpires as well as the Welsh and Malaysian fans who turned up, sung and chanted on both Friday and Sunday!
| 16:00 | Wales | 1 | Malaysia | 0 |
