Saturday, February 18, 2012

Explosive battle in Johor Baru

TUNKU Mahkota Ismail Sports School (SSTMI)-Thunderbolts played bridesmaid against UniKL in the Milo-Junior Hockey League league title battle for the last two seasons, but one man is bent on changing matters today.
Both the teams will play their last league fixtures, with Thunderbolts only needing a draw while UniKL an outright win to lift the League title.
Thunderbolts forward Shahril Saabah said he has a score to settle against arch rivals UniKL at the Taman Daya Stadium in Johor Baru.
Last season, the Project 2013 player gave Thunderbolt the lead, also in the last league match against UniKL at Kuala Lumpur Hockey Stadium, but UniKL equalised and the match ended in a 1-1 draw, which handed the university team the league title as they had a better goal difference.
However, the tables are turned against UniKL today, as even thugh both the teams have 21 points and a six-goal cushion, Thunderrbolts have scored 43 while UniKL 42 goals.
Shahril, 19, scored 10 goals in six matches and said he has been waiting for a long time to settle the score.
"Last season I scored first, but we still lost the league title after the match ended in a 1-1 draw. But tomorrow (today), we just need a draw to win the league title but we will not take any chances and will be going all for a win," said Shahril who was the top scorer last year with 15 goals.
UniKL received a big boost as their skipper Taufik Hamid will return after a three-match ban for a red card offense.
He was banned three matches afte he hit Bukit Jalil Sports School's (BJSS) Ashraf Alias on the face with a stick on Feb 4.
Taufik, a former Thunderbolts player, said that it would be an uphill battle as they are playing away.
"It will be touch-and-go as our last two league matches in the last two years in KL ended in a 1-1 draw.
"However, I hope my team-mates will rise to occasion in Johor Baru to retain the league title," said Taufik, who scored three goals.
TODAY: DIVISION ONE -- SSTMI-Thunderbolts v UniKL (Taman Daya Stadium, Pitch I 5.30pm), SSTMI v USM-MSSPP Juniors
(Taman Daya stadium, Pitch I 3.30pm)

DIVISION TWO

THIRD PLACING: Politeknik KPT v Batu Pahat (Taman Daya Stadium, Pitch II, 3.00pm)
FINAL: Sapura v Malacca High School (Taman Daya Stadium, Pitch II, 5.00pm)

STANDINGS

DIVISION ONE

P W D L F A Pts
THUNDERBOLTS 7 7 0 0 43 7 21
UNIKL 7 7 0 0 42 6 21
BJSS 8 5 1 2 30 17 16
Anderson 8 4 1 3 28 27 13
USM Jnrs 7 3 1 3 16 22 10
MBPJ 8 3 0 5 20 21 9
SSTMI 7 2 0 5 12 33 6
TBSS 8 1 1 6 15 34 4
BJSS Jnrs 8 0 0 8 5 44 0