UniKL ready for Anderson

UNIKL Young Guns will know the true strength of their players when they meet MBI Anderson minus their skipper in Division One of the Milo-Junior Hockey League at the Azlan Shah Stadium in Ipoh tomorrow.
The League champions almost blew their title hopes when they were made to sweat until the 69th minute, before scoring the winner in a 3-2 encounter against Bukit Jalil Sports School on Sunday.
They also lost their skipper, when Taufik Hamid slammed the face of BJSS player Ashraf Alias with his stick in that tension-filled Sunday, and was red carded by umpire Jasveer Singh.
UniKL have maximum 12 points from four matches, while Anderson won three and drew one. However, the Ipoh side has grown in strength after their shock 3-3 draw against USM Juniors in the curtain raiser of the JHL.
And the other title contenders, SSTMI Thunderbolts, should have an easy Wednesday, as they meet middle of the table USM Juniors, and could even increase their 24-goal cushion to above 30 after that match.
“We will not only have to make-do without our skipper, but also improve our penalty corner conversion to defend the League title. In the match against BJSS, we blew eight penalty corners in the first half itself, and that almost turned the match into a nightmare,” said UniKL manager Amir Azhar.
According to Amir, his charges have vowed not to take any team lightly and give their best in the remaining matches.
“There is a renewed vigour after that narrow call against BJSS, and even though playing Anderson at their backyard blue-pitch will not be easy, my players are determined to return home with three points,” said Amir.
The JHL Technical Committee will also meet tomorrow to decide if further action is warranted against red-carded Taufik.

DIVISION ONE

P W D L F A Pts
THUNDERBOLTS 4 4 0 0 27 3 12
UNIKL 4 4 0 0 17 3 12
Anderson 4 3 1 0 20 9 10
BJSS 5 3 0 2 17 14 9
USM Jnrs 4 2 1 1 11 10 7
MBPJ 6 2 0 4 16 18 6
SSTMI 4 1 0 3 7 18 3
TBSS 5 1 0 4 10 23 3
BJSS Jnrs 6 0 0 6 3 30 0

DIVISION TWO

GROUP A

P W D L F A Pts
SAPURA 6 6 0 0 37 1 18
Poli KPT 6 4 0 2 16 8 12
MSS Kel 5 3 0 2 11 12 9
KHA Jnrs 5 2 2 1 5 8 8
NUR INSAFI 5 2 1 2 8 7 7
KHA-MSNK 5 2 1 2 10 6 7
ANDSON Jnrs 5 2 0 3 13 10 6
MSSPP Jnrs 6 1 0 5 6 24 3
PHNS 5 0 0 5 1 31 0

GROUP B
P W D L F A Pts
OLAK PKT 5 3 1 1 9 6 10
PAHANG 6 3 1 2 10 11 10
MHS 4 3 0 1 8 4 9
DATUK TAHA 4 3 0 1 5 4 9
MPBP 4 2 0 2 5 5 6
KLSS 5 2 0 3 11 10 6
SMKPM 4 1 0 3 8 9 3
TUNAS PAHANG 4 0 0 4 3 10 0

TODAY: Division One -- UniKL Young Guns v MBI Anderson (Azlan Shah, 7pm), USM Juniors v SSTMI Thunderbolts (USM Stadium, 7pm).
Division Two: Group A -- Kelantan HA v Nur Insafi (, 4pm), Kedah HA Juniors v MSSPP-USM Juniors (Alor Star , 4pm), Negri HA v Politeknik PKT (Seramban II, 4pm), Anderson Juniors v Kedah HA (Azlan Shah, 5pm).
Division Two: Group B -- Olak PKT v Batu Pahat (Bukit Jalil, 5pm), Malacca High School v Datuk Taha (Malacca, 5pm).