KLHC on goal spree

UNIKL blew a penalty stroke, and a handful of sitters, but still managed to hold Maybank to a 2-2 draw in the Premier Division Of the TNB-Malaysia Hockey League at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.
And Maybank had UniKL to thank for the two goals, as the University's Junior Hockey League top-scorer Zulhairi Hashim scored a brace to hand the Tigers one point.
UniKL took the lead off their first penalty corner, with the first attempt by Noor Faeez Ibrahim was saved by Maybank keeper Hafizuddin Othman.
But the rebound fell to Hafiz Zainol who then squared the ball to Izad Hakimi for the lead.
The seasoned Tigers pulled back to level terms who minutes later when Zulhairi scored off a penalty corner attempt.
A fitter UniKL took the match to Maybank after the breather and regained the lead off Izad Hakimi in the 45th minute, only to see Maybank draw level again in the 62nd minute, again off a Zulhairi penalty corner.
The match was heading for a draw, when UniKL were awarded a penalty stroke in the 65th minute, but Dedy Ariyady ballooned the ball and threw away two valuable points.
"Before the match, I was hoping that my charges would at least pull off a draw, but looking back now, we should have won full points. So we blew it big time," said UniKL manager Amir Azhar.
It was the third draw for UniKL, while Maybank rued their missed sitters and lamented the fact that they gave away too many penalty corners.
"We gave away penalty corners too easily, and that cost us the match. However, I have no complaints with the way my charges played, only we were not sharp in the semi-circle," said Maybank coach Wallace Tan.
In another Premier Division match, leaders Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) whipped Armed Forces Airod 9-3, to strenghten their grip on the title.
RESULTS -- Premier League: UiTM 0 TNB 6, Maybank 2 UniKL 2, Armed Forces Airod 3 KL Hockey Club 9, Nur Insafi 1 Sapura 7.
Division One: BJSS 0 Ipoh City Hall 1, SSTMI-Thunderbolt 2 Uniten 2.
SUNDAY -- Premier League: Sapura v UiTM (4pm, Pitch I NHS), UniKL v Nur Insafi Penang (5pm, Pitch II NHS), YNS v Maybank (6pm, Pitch I, NHS), TNB v Armed Forces Airod (8pm, Pitch I, NHS).
Division One: Ipoh City Hall v UNIMAP (Azlan Shah Stadium, 5pm), SSTMI-Thunderbolt v BJSS (Taman Daya, 5pm).

Premier Division
P W D L F A Pts
KL HC 5 5 0 0 29 8 15
Sapura 4 4 0 0 16 4 12
TNB 5 3 1 1 16 6 10
Nur Insafi 5 2 0 3 9 18 6
UniKL 5 1 3 1 11 11 6
Maybank 4 1 1 2 8 9 4
YNS 4 1 0 3 5 16 3
UiTM 4 0 1 3 4 16 1
Airod 4 0 0 4 7 19 0

Division One
P W D L F A Pts
T’bolt 5 3 2 0 15 11 11
Ipoh CH 5 2 2 1 9 13 8
BJSS 5 1 2 2 10 6 5
UNIMAP 4 1 1 2 7 7 4
Uniten 5 0 3 2 6 10 3