Saturday, March 8, 2014

Massive uphill battle for UniKL to lift Milo Cup..

UNIKL skipper Nor Azrul Rahman has lost five titles to SSTMI Thunderbolts in three seasons, and he is not about to hand them their third consecutive Milo Cup double when the teams square off today at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
   Thunderbolts won the double in 2012 and 2013, as well as the League title this season and look set to claim their third consecutive double today.
    The Division One title toss has been between UniKL and Thunderbolts since 2010 when UniKL won the Milo Cup, and shared the League title with Thunderbolts.
    And in 2011, Thunderbolts won the Milo Cup, but UniKL won the League title.
    However, the last two seasons has seen Thunderbolts grab both titles, and they even beat UniKL 4-1 for the League title this season.
    “I have been in the receiving end in the last five finals, but aim to turn the tables on Thunderbolts by rallying my men to give their best as records don’t guarantee that a team is unbeatable,” said Nor Azrul.
    The Jalan Peel Schoolboy was also selected into national juniors training on Friday, and two hours later he scored off a penalty stroke to beat Petaling Jaya City Council 2-1 in the return leg of the semi-finals.
    “Everything is looking rosy for me at this moment, but I have one more mission to accomplish and together with strong determination from my team-mates, I believe we can achieve it tomorrow (today),” said Nor Azrul.
    Thunderbolts scored a massive 22-2 aggregate win over MSP Pahang in the quarter-finals, and then whacked Olak-PKT 14-1 on aggregate in the semi-finals.
    Comparatively, UniKL Young Guns beat Politeknik- KPM 5-2 on aggregate in the quarters, and in the semis beat Petaling Jaya City Council 7-2 on aggregate.
    Thunderbolts are the raging favourites: “We will be counting on our penalty corners to do the danmage again as we have two experts in Aminuddin (Zain) and Najmi (Farizal),” said Thunderbolts coach Wan Roslan Wan Rahman.
    “It has been a team effort so far with the forwards winning the penalty corners and the duo tucking them away.”
     Ten Thunderbolts players were selected for national juniors traning on Friday, with seven still with te outfit, while three other players who were also groomed by the Johor Sports School now play for UniKL and Politeknik-KPM.
    TODAY: Final -- UniKL Young Guns v SSTMI Thunderbolts (6pm); Third-Fourth: Olak-PKT v Petaling Jaya City Council (4pm).
   Both matches at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil.