UNIKL Young Guns became the early casualty when they were hammered 6-1 by Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) Thunderbolts in Division One of the Junior Hockey League at Bukit Jalil yesterday.
But down South, double champions SSTMI Thunderbolts romped 7-1 over their juniors, which was an expected score.
UniKL, double silver medallists last season, were never in the game, and bad goalkeeping by Suhayl Ainol did not help their cause. Three of the goals went between his pads.
Hafizhuddin Zaidi (18th, 33rd), Rahimi Rosley (20th), Zulfitri Zin (35th), Adam Daniel (55th, 70th) were the scorers for BJSS. The UniKL consolation was scored by Iskandar Fareez in the 38th minute.
"It was a super start to our campaign as we took control of the first half and scored four goals to douse the UniKL fire early. We went in looking for a win, but did not expect such a big score.
"Hopefully this opening boost will make my players more confident of their capabilities in the next matches," said BJSS team manager K. Rajan.
Meanwhile, Division Two team Larut Matang and Selama threw in the towel three days ago, and the Malaysian Hockey Confederation competitions committee has sent them a show cause latter.
"Larut Matang sent in a letter three days ago saying that they are pulling out of the tournament and we have sent them a show cause letter. The possible punishment includes forfeiting the registration fee of Rm500 and we might ban them for one or two years depending on mitigating factors," said competitions committee member Jusver Singh.
RESULTS: DIVISION ONE -- SSTMI Thunderbolts 7 SSTMI Juniors 1, UniKL Young Guns 1 BJSS Thunderbolts 6, Politeknik Malaysia x SMKDBL Young Guns x, Nurinsafi 1 SSP-MSP-Thunderbolts 11, Olak Tigers 0 PJCC 2.
DIVISION TWO: Group A: Perlis Young Lions 5 Perlis Young Lions Jnrs 0, Malay College KK 1 SM Sains Azlan Shah 1.
Group B: STAR 1 Felda Juniors 3, Anderson Thunderbolts 6 Anderson PHA 0, BJSS Juniors x MSSWPKL x.
TODAY -- Division Two -- Group A: MSS Kedah v Kedah Juniors (Padang Serai, 5pm), Matri v Perlis Young Lions Jnrs (Kangar, 5pm), Perlis Young Lions v Penang MSPP-USM (Kuala Perlis, 5pm), Larut Matang & Selama v MCKK (K Kangsar, 5pm).
Group B: Anderson Thunderbolts v MSNPK-ILHC (Azlan Shah 1, 5pm), Anderson PHA v Felda Juniors (Azlan Shah II, 5pm), BJSS Juniors v MISCF-UFL (Ministry Education, 5pm).
Group C: Malacca High v Young Hurricanes (Malacca, 5pm), Datuk Taha v TBSS Tampin (Seremban II, 5pm), MSNT-Terengganu HT v Pahang Academy (Padang Midin, 5pm), SM Sains Johor v SMKDBL Jnrs (Batu Pahat, 5pm).
SUNDAY --Division One: BJSS Thunderbolts v SSP-MSP-Thunderbolts (National Stadium II, 5pm), SMKDBL Young Guns v SSTMI Thunderbolts (Batu Pahat, 5pm), SSTMI Juniors v Politeknik Malaysia (SSTMI, 5pm), Olak Tigers v UniKL Young Guns (Tun Razak, 5pm), Nurinsafi v Petaling Jaya Municipal Council (Sungai Petani, 5pm).