Army edge schoolboys

BUKIT JALIL Sports School were sent reeling when Armed Forces Juniors beat them 2-1 in the curtain raiser of the Malaysia Hockey League Division One match at the Ministry of Education Stadium in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
And even BJSS coach S. Prakash could not believe the poor performance dished out by his charges, who could have easily sealed the three points after taking the lead.
BJSS' stuttering start was salvaged when G. Kavin Kartik scored off the first penalty corner they rceived in the 19th minute, but after that, the schoolboys played only in patched.
Armed Forces were unlucky not to have ended up with a bigger winning margin, as they muffed plenty of opportunities in the second half.
Razali Hazemi snatched the equaliser off a field attempt in the 44th minute, while the winner was scored by Szuhairi Aziz in the 64th minute.
"This is surely not the school's standard, as my players can and have played at a higher level. I think they were a little nervous, and it showed when they had opportunities to seal the match after taking the lead, but muffed all," said BJSS coach S. Prakash.
Army coach Kamaruddin Misman was pleased with the victory, but did not expect the three points.
"We played with BJSS in three friendlies as warm-ups and all ended in draws (1-1, 2-2 and 3-3). So I we knew their style, and used it to our advantage. But still, it is a shocking win for us," said kamaruddin.
Malacca City Council also started with a win when they beat Universiti Sains Malaysia with the goal coming in the 33rd minute off a field attempt from Azrul Hairi.
In another match,Ipoh City Councildrew 1-1 with University Tenaga Nasional. Abbas Nekmat gave UniTen the lead in the seventh minute, but Hafiz Dolah equalised in the 67th minute off a penalty stroke.
The first day matches were marred by a red card flashed to Ipoh player Mohamed Rasyid in the 3oth minute for an off the ball incident.
RESULTS -- DIVISION ONE: Ipoh City Council 1 UniTen 1, Bukit Jalil SS 1 Armed Forces Jnr 2, Universiti Sains Malaysia 0 Malacca City Council 1.
TOMORROW: Ipoh City Council v Malacca City Council (Azlan Shah Stadium, 5pm), Bukit Jalil SS v Universiti Sains Malaysia (Pantai Stadium, 5pm), Bandar Penawar SS v UniTen (BPSS pitch, 5pm).