Reckoning weekend for double champs

NEXT weekend will be reckoning week for double cham pions Bukit Jalil Sports School in Division One of the MHF- Milo- NSC Junior Hockey League.
They play an erratic Petaling Jaya City Council on Friday as a warm-up to their crucial encounter against high-riding newcomers UniKL on Sunday.
In their five matches, UniKL has scored 28 goals and let in only five. The double champions, meanwhile have scored 15 and let in one in four matches.
The other contenders for the title this season, Bandar Penawar Sports School Thunderbolt have also been im pressive in their four matches by scoring 25 goals and letting in only three.
Thunderbolt have an easy encounter against Bukit Jalil Sports School Juniors on Friday, where they can be expected to score more than a handful and consolidate their position on the standings.
“The tournament has reached its crucial stage for us as we need to beat PJCC by a good margin, before playing the favourites this season, UniKL,” said BJSS coach S. Prakash.
BJSS have been improving with every match, while UniKL seems to wake up only in the second half in their last three matches.
“We need to play consistent hockey for 70 minutes to beat a team like UniKL and my boys, after a slow start, have regained their scoring touch.
“It will be a close battle, but I expect my players to come out tops so that we still have a fighting chance of winning the title when we play BPSS Thunderbolt on May 14,” said Prakash.
The good news for BJSS, if they beat UniKL, is that Thunderbolt will most likely lose their prolific 19-year-old striker Faizal Saari to the Azlan Shah Cup for the May 14 encounter and it would make their quest to lift the title that much easier, provided they do not stumble against new kids on the block UniKL.
FRIDAY: Division One -- Bukit Jalil Sports School Juniors v Bandar Penawar Sports School Thunderbolt (Kuala Lumpur HA, 5pm), Petaling Jaya City Council v Bukit Jalil Sports School (Tun Razak, 9pm).
Division Two: Pahang v Penang Frees (Kuantan, 5pm), Johor v Matri (Johor Baru, 5pm), Ipoh City Council v Sabah (Azlan Shah, 5pm).
SUNDAY: Division One -- Bukit Jalil Sports School v UniKL (Tun Razak, 8pm), Kelantan v Petaling Jaya City Council (Terengganu), Anderson v Bandar Penawar Sports School Juniors (Azlan Shah, 5pm).
Division Two: Datuk Taha v Ipoh City Council (Tampin, 5pm), Kuala Selangor v Pahang (Pandamaran, 3pm), Sabah v Tunku Besar Secondary School (Pandamaran, 5pm), Johor v Penang Frees (Johor Baru, 5pm).