Pressure on Olak, says Avtar

22/06/1997

PETALING Jaya Municipal Council (PJMC) have three goals to chase but the
pressure is expected to be on Old La Sallians of Klang (Olak) in the MHF-
Milo-NSC Junior League hockey semifinals second leg today.
They must maintain their form if they want to make the final because
PJMC have the material to pull off an upset.
PJMC have a host of good players but they have been on a roller coaster
ride since the League started.
They beat Andersonians 6-1 and Penang Juniors 8-0 only to draw 2-2 with
Electrical Switchgear Automation (ESA). They also managed 1-1 draws with
a weak Sultan Abu Bakar College (SABC) and whipping boys Bukit Jalil
Sports School (BJSS).
"A three-goal margin is hard to overcome but don't expect us to give up
meekly. Olak will have to bring out their best as we will fight till the
end," said PJMC coach Avtar Singh.
And with injured League topscorer Hafiz Hussin up and running, PJMC have
the capabilities of causing an upset.
Olak, who will march in with a comfortable 3-0 lead, are also no
pushovers.
"When we won the League title, I told my boys to go for the overall
title and we are just two steps away now. PJMC are a good side but we have
the advantage," said Olak assistant team manager Joseph de Silva.
"We have also brushed up on our penalty corner setpieces, it has been
our sore point but we did turn the first leg into our favour with a first
minute penalty corner goal. We hope to score early in the return leg too."
In the other semifinal, success for Tampin District, who held ESA of
Penang 1-1 in the first leg on Friday, did not come overnight.
They started the League campaign on a shaky note and lost 3-2 to Olak,
drew 2-2 with SABC and lost 5-2 to PJMC.
"The players were just getting used to each other then," said Tampin
team manager Jusvir Singh.
"Most of them come from Datuk Taha Secondary in Gemencheh and Tunku
Besar Secondary in Tampin and had not played as a team for long."
But once they started moving as a team, they beat Klang Municipal
Council (KMC) 4-1 and Pahang Sports Council (PSC) 3-0.
"We have achieved our target of making the semis, making the final will
be a bonus. We will go all out for full points.
"I have told my players to enjoy themselves, there should be no pressure
to deliver. But that does not mean we will slacken our pace. ESA can
expect a tough fight."
Coached by V. Vikraman and Roslan Mohamed, Tampin are capable of
shutting out last year's double champions ESA if they play their normal
game.
(END)