IT turned out to be a Pakistan weekend in the Premier Division of the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL), while million- ringgit team Terengganu finally realise their folly after four matches.
Sapura, Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club and Maybank all relied on their imports to deliver the goals, while Terengganu fell yet again.
Terengganu had gone on a buying spree before the MHL started and netted national players Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin, Fitri Saari, Azlan Misron and Shahrun Nabil while Ismail Abu and Ameerullah Aziz were also good buys.
However, after a 4-4 draw against Tenaga, they lost 1-2 to Maybank, 2-4 to Sapura with their only win being 5-1 against a struggling Nur Insafi.
The fault was that Terengganu failed to secure a high- caliber coach to direct their powerful signings.
Terengganu team manager and secretary of Terengganu HA Saberi Salleh said that they were in the process of looking for a consultant to help the team in the coaching aspect.
“But that does not mean we have lost faith in coach Nik Rozemi (Nik Mohammad), only we prefer to have someone advise on tactics as well as provide a fresh impetus to the team,” said Saberi.
"We have a good side, no doubt, and although there is a gap in terms of experience between the youngsters and the more senior players, that is no excuse.
“Already there is a big margin between us and the top two teams in the MHL and we cannot allow it to widen. Therefore we feel that the presence of an experienced person, who has knowledge of teams in the MHL, will help us plan our strategy better.
“We are learning on how to run a team in the MHL and need all the help we can get. We have identified a candidate and are talking to him.”
And while Terengganu languish at the bottom bracket, the other teams are enjoying their foreign signings.
On Sunday, Sapura beat Terengganu with goals from Pakistan’s Khasif Ali and Muhammad Zubair. KLHC powered past Nur Insafi 7-0 with Australian Timothy James, and Pakistanis Umar Bhutta and Muhammad Imran (two goals) playing a major role.
As for Maybank, they would have lost to UniKL instead of winning 4-1, if not for goals from Pakistan’s Shafqat Rasool, Muhammad Waqas and Muhammad Imran.
The only team which has six Pakistan players but have yet to win a match is Nur Insafi.
RESULT: Division One -- Bukit Jalil SS x Sunday 2030 x.
STANDINGS
PREMIER DIVISION
P W D L F A Pts
KLHC 4 3 1 0 19 6 10
Maybank 4 3 0 1 14 9 9
TNB 4 1 3 0 13 11 6
Sapura 4 1 2 1 10 10 5
Tgganu 4 1 1 2 12 11 4
UniKL 4 1 0 3 5 14 3
N Insafi 4 0 1 3 3 15 1
DIVISION ONE
P W D L F A Pts
TNB T'bolts 4 3 1 0 14 3 10
UiTM 3 3 0 0 13 4 9
Uniten KPT 4 2 0 2 7 6 6
MBI 4 1 1 2 11 11 4
Sunday 3 1 0 2 5 9 3
SSTMI 4 0 0 4 4 21 0
BJSS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Monday, April 1, 2013
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