THE future of Malaysian hockey received a 7-0 drubbing from the present national squad when the National Juniors crumbled against Ernst & Young in Division One of the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.
The Juniors, preparing for the 2009 Junior Worls Cup which Malaysia and Singapore will co-host, played in patches, and bungled three attempts in the first half.
There was some good midfield play from the Juniors, but the forwards looked clueless when on the counter.
Ernst & Young, with almost the entire national team in their fold, scored an early goal which rattled the juniors.
Chua Boon Huat had an easy time scoring the first in the first minute, while a penalty stroke in the 10th minute was tucked in by Baljit Singh.
The third goal was scored by Nabil Fiqri in the 22nd minute, while in the second half, Chua (43rd), Baljit (51st), Ismail Abu (68th) and Nabil (69th) completed the drubbing.
In another Division One match, Maybank held Tenaga Nasional 2-2.
The Maybank goals were scored by Hafifihafiz Hanafi in the seventh and 47th minutes, while Tenaga got their goals off Fairuz Ramli in the 16th minute and Fazreen Eksan in the 50th minute.
"My boys gave too much respect to the seniors in E&Y and that is why their movements were stunted today (yesterday). It was a good hockey leason for them, and I will work to improve on the faults that were glaring in this match," said National Juniors coach K. Rajan.
The juniors complete their first leg fixtures against Sapura on Friday, where they are expected to face another torrid time.
"The team will be better prepared in the return leg, and I believe they will give every team a tougher time," said Rajan.
RESULTS -- Division One -- Tenaga Nasional 2 Maybank 2, Nur Insafi 2 Sapura 5, National Juniors 0 Ernst & Young 7. Division Two: Bukit Jalil SS 0 UiTM 1, Alam Shah School 1 UNIMAP 1, Border Forces Club 2 Dolphins 11, Royal Malay Regiment x JLJD x.
STANDINGS
DIVISION ONE
P W D L F A Pts
Ernst & Young 4 4 0 0 20 1 12
Tenaga 4 2 2 0 9 6 8
Sapura 4 2 1 1 9 6 7
Maybank 4 1 1 2 6 7 4
National Juniors 4 1 0 3 5 8 3
Nur Insafi 4 0 0 4 5 20 0
DIVISION TWO
P W D L F A Pts
JLJD 3 3 0 0 8 3 9
Malay Regiment 3 2 0 1 11 4 6
Bandar Penawar 3 2 0 1 10 3 6
UiTM 3 2 1 0 12 4 7
Dolphins 4 1 2 1 15 8 5
Bukit Jalil 3 1 1 1 4 2 4
Alam Shah 4 1 1 2 29 10 4
UNIMAP 3 0 1 2 1 13 1
Border Forces 4 0 0 4 6 29 0