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 Malaysia's dream ends Australia wins men's field hockey gold 4-0
Posted: Sunday September 20, 1998 12:34 PM
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -- Malaysia's passionate men's field hockey campaign was abruptly ended as a clinical Australian team won the Commonwealth Games gold medal game 4-0 Sunday. The Malaysians rode emotional crowd support to arrive at the final with a controversial victory over Canada and a remarkable golden goal win over India. But they were swamped by Australia's defense and killed on the counterattack Sunday. Forward Michael Brennan scored twice, while Adam Commens and Stephen Davies got one each as Australia took the first gold medal in hockey's games debut. Malaysia's scrambling defense allowed it to advance with a surprise 1-0 semifinal win over India but it cracked too early Sunday. Australia had one penalty corner turned away but from the second, in just the third minute, the ball was pushed in to Commens, who found the target for a 1-0 lead. The early goal did more than open up the game - it almost turned the crowd against the hosts. Far from giving their team an advantage, the capacity crowd put heavy pressure on them in the first half, jeering them every time they played a cautious ball. Kuhan Shanmuganathan was causing trouble down the right flank but Australian captain Michael York was in commanding form. When the Australian defense as caught out at 18 minutes, a cross found Chairil Anuar unmarked in front of an open goal but he shot weakly. While the Malaysians ran hard at a composed Australian defense, the favorites were prepared to wait for the counter. Their second and third goals both came within a minute of Malaysian penalty corners. Brennan, whose golden goal gave Australia its 3-2 semifinal victory over England, scored the second after James Elmer ran down the right and cut a pass back to Brennan at the top of the goal circle. Nor Saiful Zaini went close with a penalty corner but York led Australia quickly out of defense, feeding Brennan, who set up a long-range goal from Stephen Davies. Malaysian captain Mirnawan Nawawi, who scored the goal that put his team into the final, had a quiet match after being its best player through the tournament. The Australians led 3-0 at the break and scored another from a fast break when Brennan turned in his second from close range with a sharp reverse stick shot. Malaysian goalkeeper Roslan Jamaluddin was again outstanding and prevented a worse score. Australia revamped its aging squad for the Commonwealth Games after the world's No. 4-ranked team failed to win a medal at the World Cup in May. England won the bronze medal playoff in penalty shootout, 4-2, against India earlier Sunday. They finished 1-1 at fulltime and failed to score a golden goal.
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