Hot Anderson Xybase

18/02/2003

AFTER the second weekend of the MHF-Milo-Admiral-NSC Junior Hockey League,
the final outcome in Division Two seems quite predictable but the picture
in Division One is still hazy.
Malacca Municipal Council and Sports School Juniors are the clear
favourites in Division Two while in Division One, four teams have shown
they are capable of finishing tops.
Pahang Telekom, Malaysia Sports School, Tenaga Nasional Bhd and Anderson
Xybase are the frontrunners and cannot be taken lightly even though some
of the teams have shown inconsistency in their first matches.
Anderson lost 1-0 to Old La Sallians Associations of Klang (OLAK-MPK) in
their opening match but came back strongly to beat Petaling Jaya Municipal
council 2-1 tough the Ipoh outfit is made up of mainly 16-year-olds.
Tenaga were also shaky when they lost 2-1 in their opening JHL encounter
to Malaysia Sports School, but have since shown remarkable progress by
beating Johor Sports Council 7-1.
Defending overall champions Pahang Telekom are the only side who have
shown consistency, winning both their opening matches with identical 4-0
scores.
Division Two leaders Malacca MC, despite scoring 19 goals in three
matches, are feeling the pressure on the contrary.
"It is going to become more difficult to score in our remaining matches
because the opponents will surely start packing their defence to limit the
number of goals," said Malacca MC team manager Rahim Omar.
In their last match against English College, the Johor side packed their
defence and play was centred in their semicircle. Malacca, nevertheless
went on to score seven goals.
"I do not blame the opposition because it is their right to minimise the
damage. We are only warning our fans not to expect too much after this as
most teams will not adapt an open game against us," said Rahim.
Malacca MC host Malay Mail on Sunday at the Bukit Serindit Stadium.
While teams like Yayasan Negri Sembilan are finding it hard to train as
a team together as most of their players are schooling and are only
available on Fridays, Malacca MC train three times a week.
The good news for Malacca MC is that all seven strikers have scored in
the last three matches and this will be crucial when they play Sports
School Juniors.
The Juniors have won all three matches and scored 15 goals in the
process. They came back 0-2 down against Synergy Hockey Club to win 4-2.
(END)