YAYASAN Negri Sembilan (YNS) have two more matches to go, but even if they win both, they will remain fourth in the Premier Division of the TNB-Malaysia Hockey League.
Coach K. Rajan sees it as a blessing, as he roughly knows who he will be meeting in the quarter-finals.
Seven teams from the Premier Division, and the Division One champions will advance to the home-and-away knock- out stages for the TNB Cup.
“We play Sapura tomorrow (today) and then our last match on Sunday is against UiTM. We have nine points, and even if we win both we will only have 15 points and lose out the third spot to Sapura (now on 15 points) on goals average.
“However, I see it as a blessing because finishing fourth will see us play the fifth team on the standings, and that means it is either UniKL, Nur Insafi or Maybank,” said Rajan.
However, if they advance into the semi-finals, they will surely meet defending champions Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) who will have an easy quarter-finals against Division One champions, either Ipoh City hall or Thun derbolt.
YNS have six Pakistan players, and according to Rajan, fitness was a problem in the early part of the League.
“The six arrived four days after Hari Raya, which means they fasted for a month, and there was no tournaments to keep them on their toes.
“They were not fit then, but after playing a few matches, I can see that the foreign players are ready to contribute in the knock-out stages.
For the record, YNS suffered an 8-0 trashing in the hands of KLHC in the League match.
Champions in waiting KLHC will have an easy weekend against Nur Insafi, after which they will lay their hands on the title when they meet Sapura on Sunday.
KLHC can even afford to lose to Sapura, but will still lift the title -- provided Nur Insafi does not pull off the biggest upset of the season today.
P W D L F A Pts
KLHC 6 6 0 0 35 9 18
TNB 7 5 1 1 25 6 16
Sapura 6 5 0 1 21 8 15
YNS 6 3 0 3 11 18 9
UniKL 7 1 4 2 15 20 7
Maybank 6 2 1 3 14 11 7
Nur Insafi 6 2 1 3 12 21 7
UiTM 6 0 1 5 6 26 1
Airod 6 0 0 6 8 28 0
Division One
P W D L F A Pts
T’bolt 7 3 4 0 20 16 13
Ipoh CH 7 3 3 1 14 16 12
BJSS 6 1 3 2 13 9 6
Uniten 6 1 3 2 11 13 6
UNIMAP 6 1 1 4 10 14 4
TODAY -- Premier League: YNS v Sapura (National Sta dium I, 6pm), Nur Insafi Penang v KL Hockey Club (National Stadium II, 6pm),
Maybank v TNB (National Stadium I, 8pm), UiTM v Armed Forces Airod (National Stadium II, 8pm).
Division 1 - Uniten v BJSS (Tun Razak, 5pm), UNIMAP v SSTMI-Thunderbolt (Alor Star, 5pm).
SUNDAY: Premier League YNS v UiTM (Pitch II, 4pm), Maybank v Nur Insafi Penang (Pitch 1, 5pm), UniKL v Armed Forces Airod (Pitch II, 6pm), KL Hockey Club v Sapura (Pitch II, 8pm).
All matches at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
Division 1 Ipoh City Hall v UniTen (Azlan Shah, 5pm), UNIMAP v BJSS (Alor Star, 5pm).