THE Junior Hockey League (JHL) was a top-heavy success, while the middle class and Division Two teams were a total flop.The Bukit Jalil and Bandar Penawar Sports Schools senior sides, UniKL and Petaling Jaya City Council had put in much effort and to a certain degree, promising players could be spotted in their outfits.
However, the rest of the Division One teams were a yawn to watch, and the majority of their players did not even have the basics right yet.
The top three Division Two teams -- Sabah, Pahang and Ipoh City Council in that order -- looked comfortable beating their peers with impressive margins, but when given a chance to play in the quarter-finals against Division One teams, none of them progressed into the last four.
In fact, they were turned into punching bags, with BPSS hitting Ipoh 9-1, BJSS hammering four goals past Division Two champions Sabah, while UniKL beat Pahang 4-2.
Sabah were the biggest disappointment in the last eight, as they went on a scoring spree of more than 30 goals to become the Division Two champions, but could not score a single goal against BJSS who finished third in Division One.
The standard was evident to Sabah HA secretary Aftar Singh: “We took part in our first JHL since its inception, and it was an achievement to become the Division Two cham pions.
“However, our form is still far from satisfactory, as we were lost when pitted against a Division One side.”
But Sabah deserve praise as they have started a dedicated programme, even though it is long overdue, when they camped at the Pandamaran Stadium in Klang to train for the Razak Cup, the JHL and now for the Malaysia Games in Malacca.
“We have just started our journey, and have to chase established clubs who are miles ahead. It will be difficult, but not an impossible task to go on par with Division One teams in the near future if we continue our development pro grammes,” said Aftar.
More established teams like Pahang, Ipoh City Council, Tunku Besar Secondary School, Penang Frees and Johor were beaten by Sabah in their route to become champions, and more can be expected from them if they continue playing in the JHL.
Eighteen teams competed in the JHL, with nine in each division, and the national selectors can easily form two strong Under-19 training squads as talent was abundant.
