THE NSC-Milo-MHC Junior Hockey League is only one weekend old, but champions Tengku Mahkota Ismail Sports School (SSTMI) have almost claimed the Division One title.
The Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) drawn fix tures made SSTMI, also known as Thunderbolts, play three matches in a row but the champions showed that they are ready to defend their titles.
“We have overcome one tough hurdle in BJSS (Bukit Jalil Sports School) and now we need to beat UniKL (Young Guns) and Petaling Jaya (City Council) to cement the league title,” said Thunderbolts coach Wan Roslan.
However, their sister Sports School, Bukit Jalil, have had a nightmarish start, as they lost both their opening matches by 1-0 margins.
“This is a long-term development side and that is why we are fielding 16 and 17 years old this season. And also, we can’t hold the players once they leave the school and study at the pre-university level because we do not bind them by contracts like other teams.
“But still, we lost narrowly to champions Thunderbolts and also a strong Petaling Jaya (City Council) side,” said BJSS coach S. Prakash.
PJCC are fielding six former BJSS boys, and according to Prakash, they need to buck up in certain areas if they want to pull off upsets against early favourites UniKL and Thun derbolts.
“PJCC were unsettled in certain areas when we played them, and if they can quickly patch the chinks, I believe they will give the other title aspirants a good fight,” said Prakash.
In Division Two, Group A, 1Mas Penang have shown consistency and fitness by winning three matches in-a-row to top the table, while in Group B, SMK Datuk Taha are the early leaders with two wins and a draw.
On another note, MHC held a meeting to amend the fixtures after Sabah withdrew three days before the JHL started, but have yet to provide the new fixtures for next weekend’s matches as of yesterday.
DIVISION ONE
P W D L F A Pts
SSTMI 3 3 0 0 16 0 9
PJCC 2 2 0 0 4 2 6
Anderson 2 1 1 0 5 3 4
UniKL 1 1 0 0 6 2 3
Malacca HS 2 0 1 1 3 12 1
BJSS 2 0 0 2 0 2 0
USM-MSSSPP 1 0 0 1 0 2 0
SSTMI Jnrs 3 0 0 3 4 15 0
DIVISION TWO
GROUP A
P W D L F A Pts
1Mas Penang 3 3 0 0 12 1 9
Kelantan KEL 2 2 0 0 8 3 6
Kedah HA Jnrs 3 1 1 1 4 3 4
STAR Ipoh 1 1 0 0 2 0 3
Anderson Jnrs 1 1 0 0 2 1 3
Perlis 2 0 1 1 3 7 1
Matri 2 0 0 2 1 6 0
SERATAS 2 0 0 2 0 5 0
Nur Insafi 2 0 0 2 1 7 0
GROUP B
P W D L F A Pts
Datuk Taha 3 2 1 0 13 1 7
KLSS 2 2 0 0 10 2 6
OLAK 3 2 0 1 6 3 6
K Langat 3 2 0 1 4 11 6
TM Pahang 3 1 1 1 6 6 4
Poli KPT 2 1 0 1 6 3 3
TBSS 2 1 0 1 2 2 3
SMKPM 2 0 0 2 5 9 0
Johor HA 2 0 0 2 3 8 0
BJSS Jnrs 2 0 0 2 1 11 0