PETALING Jaya City Council (PJCC) upset the formbook when they beat UniKL Young Guns 1-0 in Division One of the NSC-Milo-MHC Junior Hockey League at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.
It was a 70th minute overhead by PJCC which saw Hafifi Rodzi collecting the ball and making a pass to Haikal Zami who cooly slotted home for the winner just as the hooter blew.
PJCC celebrated wildly, as it was their first win against UniKL since the university side made their debbut in the JHL in 2010.
UniKL played well below par in the first half, but still, PJCC could not make their shots count and the match was a drab 35 minutes affair.
However, frustration grew after the hooter as UniKL tried to break the duck and cards flew out of the referees' pockets.
And in the 50th minute, UniKL player Meor Azuan was yellow carded, but a head-count by the referee revealed that UniKL still had 11 players even though one player was on the bench.
The blunder saw UniKL skipper Syafiq Zulzairin being penalised with a green card but even with nine players to attack, PJCC still failed to score and the university side were left off the hook.
But the 70th minute overhead changed PJCC fortunes, and now they are tied on nine points with double champions Tengku Mahkota Ismail Sports School.
"It was a tough match which saw my players miss many sitters, but it was worth the 70 minute wait as we beat UniKL for the first time in the JHL since they made their debut. Now, we are in position to challenge SSTMI for the league title," said PJCC coach Azlan Saufi Hafifi.
UniKL coach K. Embaraj was frustrated with the defeat: "We gave a way three points and now it has become more difficult for us to challenge for the title this year."
RESULTS: Division One -- Petaling Jaya City Council 1 UniKL Young Guns 0, Malacca High School 3 Bukit Jalil Sports School 2.
Division Two: Group A -- Anderson Juniors 2 Kelantan HA 3; Group B: Bukit Jalil Sports School Juniors 0 Tunku Besar Secondary School 5.
TODAY: Division One: Tengku Mahkota Ismail SS v Bukit Jalil SS (Taman Daya, 5pm).
Division Two -- Group A: SERATAS v Kelantan HA (Azlan Shah Stadium, 5pm), Nur Insafi v STAR (Sungai Petani, 5pm), Kedah HA Juniors v Anderson Juniors (Alor Star, 5pm).
Group B: Johor HA v Kuala Lumpur Sports School (Taman Daya Pitch II, 5pm), Kuala Langat v Tunas Muda Pahang (National Stadium, 5pm), Olak KPT v Datuk Taha (National Stadium pitch II, 5pm), Tunku Besar Secondary School v Padang Midin (Tampin, 5pm).
DIVISION ONE
P W D L F A Pts
SSTMI 3 3 0 0 16 0 9
PJCC 3 3 0 0 5 2 9
UniKL 3 2 0 1 12 4 6
Anderson 2 1 1 0 5 3 4
Malacca HS 3 1 1 1 6 14 4
BJSS 4 0 0 4 3 11 0
USM-MSSSPP 1 0 0 1 0 2 0
SSTMI Jnrs 3 0 0 3 4 15 0
GROUP A
P W D L F A Pts
Kelantan KEL 4 4 0 0 17 5 12
1Mas Penang 3 3 0 0 12 1 9
Kedah HA Jnrs 5 2 2 1 7 4 8
Perlis 3 1 1 1 9 7 4
STAR Ipoh 3 1 1 1 3 7 4
Anderson Jnrs 2 1 0 1 4 4 3
Matri 3 0 1 2 2 7 1
SERATAS 4 0 1 3 1 8 1
Nur Insafi 3 0 0 3 1 13 0
GROUP B
P W D L F A Pts
KLSS 4 4 0 0 15 4 12
Datuk Taha 6 3 1 2 17 6 10
OLAK 5 3 0 2 13 5 9
K Langat 5 3 0 2 6 18 9
TM Pahang 5 2 1 2 8 10 7
Poli KPT 3 2 0 1 9 3 6
TBSS 4 2 0 2 7 5 6
BJSS Jnrs 4 1 0 3 3 16 3
SMKPM 4 0 0 4 6 13 0
Johor HA 3 0 0 3 4 10 0