KUALA Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) coach K. Dharmaraj has cautioned his charges not to take the first leg results against Terengganu as a yardstick when both the teams square off again in the second round of the Malaysia Hockey League today (SUNDAY).
Double champions KLHC whipped Terengganu 5-0 in the first leg last weekend in Kuantan, but are wary of the East Coast side which had pinched six of their best in a pre-season signing frenzy.
"Terengganu have the players to upset any team on their day, and I have the pleasure of coaching some of them for many years before they moved on, so I know heir strength.
"We did beat them with a high score last weekend, but that can't be used as an excuse to take them lightly. My players know the score, and they will give their best again," said Dharmaraj who is also the national juniors coach.
Last season, KLHC had beaten Sapura 5-0 in the first leg, but ended up with a 1-1 draw in the return leg.
"We have a sobering lesson to rely from last season, as we hit five goals past Sapura but ended up with a 1-1 draw when we became complacent in the second leg.
"I have pointed this out to my players, and they know their work it cut out, and there is no Sunday rest," said Dharmaraj.
And the good news for Dharmaraj is that all his charges are injury-free while his foreign legion of Pakistan players have proved themselves to be assets.
KLHC are cruising towards the League title as their nearest contenders are Tenaga Nasional and Maybank, while the rest of the Premier Division sides have fallen by the wayside.
SATURDAY: Premier Division -- Maybank x Tenaga Nasional x.
SUNDAY: Premier Division -- UniKL v Sapura (National Stadium I, 6pm),
Nur Insafi v Maybank (National Stadium II, 6pm), KLHC v Terengganu
(National Stadium II, 8pm).
STANDINGS
PREMIER DIVISION
P W D L F A Pts
KLHC 7 6 1 0 30 10 19
TNB 7 4 3 0 24 12 15
Maybank 6 4 0 2 21 17 12
Sapura 7 2 2 3 17 17 8
Tgganu 7 2 1 4 17 20 7
UniKL 7 2 0 5 10 22 6
N Insafi 7 0 1 6 6 27 1
Saturday, April 13, 2013
KLHC keep League title in sight..
KUALA Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) did just enough to beat Sapura 3-2 in Premier Division of the Malaysia Hockey League at the National Hockey Stadium yesterday.
The double champions started their second round campaign with an identical win over Sapura, whom they also edged 3-2 on Sunday in Kuantan.
However, at the adjacent pitch, UniKl fell 4-1 to Trengganu, after beating them 3-1 last weekend.
Sapura took the lead in the ninth minute through rough Dangerous Lee but KLHC equalised four minutes before halftime when Akhtar Ali got it right.
However, Sapura were back at the front in the 40th minute when Khasif Ali converted a penalty corner, taking his tally to nine goals in the MHL.
The lead, however, lasted only eight minutes as KLHC's Muhammad Imran made it 2-2 before stepping up to score from another penalty corner in the 52nd minute to give KLHC full points.
As for UniKL, they paid the price for sloppy defending in the 20th minute when Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin's hard work and deft pass allowed Alif Nazaruddin to tap in from close range.
And four minutes later Sufi Ismat made it 2-0 after he was left alone on the far post to score.
Fitri Saari then scored a beauty in the 41st minute for a comfortable 3-0 led before S. Selvarajoo pulled a goal back for UniKL in the 53rd minute but Firtri Saari made the final score 4-1 with a 70th min penalty corner conversion.
"We gave them too much respect and paid the price for it. We let in soft goals and failed to make use of the chances that we created. It was a poor display by our standards and it was a disappointing outing," said UniKL coach Arul Selvaraj.
"It was a lucky escape for us and credit to Sapura who played really well. We were a bit soft in defene and need to do better. But I admire the fighting qualities displayed by my players as they never gave up," said KLHC manager George Koshy.
RESULTS: Premier Division -- KLHC 3 Sapura 2, UniKL 1 Terengganu 4, Nur Insafi 0 Tenaga 1.
SATURDAY: Premier Division -- Maybank v Tenaga Nasional (National Stadium II, 6pm).
Division One: Sunday 2030 v TNB Thunderbolts ((National Stadium I, 6pm), UniTen v Bukit Jalil SS (National Stadium II, 8pm), SSTMI v UiTm (Taman Daya, 6pm).
SUNDAY: Premier Division -- UniKL v Sapura (National Stadium I, 6pm), Nur Insafi v Maybank (National Stadium II, 6pm), KLHC v Terengganu (National Stadium II, 8pm).
STANDINGS
PREMIER DIVISION
P W D L F A Pts
KLHC 7 6 1 0 30 10 19
TNB 7 4 3 0 24 12 15
Maybank 6 4 0 2 21 17 12
Sapura 7 2 2 3 17 17 8
Tgganu 7 2 1 4 17 20 7
UniKL 7 2 0 5 10 22 6
N Insafi 7 0 1 6 6 27 1
The double champions started their second round campaign with an identical win over Sapura, whom they also edged 3-2 on Sunday in Kuantan.
However, at the adjacent pitch, UniKl fell 4-1 to Trengganu, after beating them 3-1 last weekend.
Sapura took the lead in the ninth minute through rough Dangerous Lee but KLHC equalised four minutes before halftime when Akhtar Ali got it right.
However, Sapura were back at the front in the 40th minute when Khasif Ali converted a penalty corner, taking his tally to nine goals in the MHL.
The lead, however, lasted only eight minutes as KLHC's Muhammad Imran made it 2-2 before stepping up to score from another penalty corner in the 52nd minute to give KLHC full points.
As for UniKL, they paid the price for sloppy defending in the 20th minute when Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin's hard work and deft pass allowed Alif Nazaruddin to tap in from close range.
And four minutes later Sufi Ismat made it 2-0 after he was left alone on the far post to score.
Fitri Saari then scored a beauty in the 41st minute for a comfortable 3-0 led before S. Selvarajoo pulled a goal back for UniKL in the 53rd minute but Firtri Saari made the final score 4-1 with a 70th min penalty corner conversion.
"We gave them too much respect and paid the price for it. We let in soft goals and failed to make use of the chances that we created. It was a poor display by our standards and it was a disappointing outing," said UniKL coach Arul Selvaraj.
"It was a lucky escape for us and credit to Sapura who played really well. We were a bit soft in defene and need to do better. But I admire the fighting qualities displayed by my players as they never gave up," said KLHC manager George Koshy.
RESULTS: Premier Division -- KLHC 3 Sapura 2, UniKL 1 Terengganu 4, Nur Insafi 0 Tenaga 1.
SATURDAY: Premier Division -- Maybank v Tenaga Nasional (National Stadium II, 6pm).
Division One: Sunday 2030 v TNB Thunderbolts ((National Stadium I, 6pm), UniTen v Bukit Jalil SS (National Stadium II, 8pm), SSTMI v UiTm (Taman Daya, 6pm).
SUNDAY: Premier Division -- UniKL v Sapura (National Stadium I, 6pm), Nur Insafi v Maybank (National Stadium II, 6pm), KLHC v Terengganu (National Stadium II, 8pm).
STANDINGS
PREMIER DIVISION
P W D L F A Pts
KLHC 7 6 1 0 30 10 19
TNB 7 4 3 0 24 12 15
Maybank 6 4 0 2 21 17 12
Sapura 7 2 2 3 17 17 8
Tgganu 7 2 1 4 17 20 7
UniKL 7 2 0 5 10 22 6
N Insafi 7 0 1 6 6 27 1
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