UNIVERSITI Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) Young Guns aims to claim full points this weekend in Division One of the Junior Hockey League (JHL).
Being the only Division One team playing Friday and Sunday, while the top guns rest as their players are competing in the Asian Schools tournament in India, UniKL will play PJCC Tigers and then Johor Juniors.
Admitting that his team were raw and inexperienced, UniKL Young Guns coach Arul Selvaraj feels that a proper execution of their game plan could be the difference.
"I believe that PJCC have an experienced team that could make things difficult for us," admitted Arul.
"But three points is what we are after and it boils down to one thing - which team has the stronger desire to win and makes the least mistakes.
"That is why I have spent the larger part of training to focus on our defensive set up as well as penalty corner execution.
"It is never easy playing against a hard running team so we need to have a game plan to neutralise them. While they may have the experience, I want my players to match them in terms of tenacity and determination, as this can overcome our shortcomings," said Arul.
UniKL Young Guns got off to a winning start by defeating BJSS Juniors last week.
And while PJCC did not see action, Johor Juniors defeated Olak-Nur Insafi 3-2 in shootout after the match ended 2-2 in regulation time to collect two points.
Fielding largely players who are Under-16, Johor Juniors are expected to pose another tough challenge as most of their players were exposed to the Malaysia Hockey League.
"Although they are a young team, the fact that they defeated Olak speaks of their ability as a team," cautioned Arul.
FRIDAY -- Division One: UniKL Young Guns v PJCC Tigers (KLHA, 5pm).
Division Two: Group A -- MSN Young Lions v USM (Syed Putra, 5pm), USM Juniors v MSS Kedah (USM, 5pm), MSSP Stinger v MISCF-UFL Penang (Kuala Perlis, 5pm); Group B: MCKK v SSMS Resilient (Azlan Shah, 5pm), Felda Juniors v MISCF-UFL (Universiti Sultan Idris, 5pm), Andersons v MSSWPKL (Gunung Rapat, 5pm).
Group C: Datuk Bentara Luar v TBSS Tampin (Batu Pahat, 5pm), Datuk Taha v SSTMI Juniors (Seremban II, 5pm), MBMB Warriors v Young Hurricanes (Bukit Serindit, 5pm).
SATURDAY: Women's Group A: MSN Kedah v CBN (Lela Pahlawan, 5pm), KLSS Wipers v USM Juniors (KLHA, 5pm); Group B: MSSPK v Zaaba (Gunung Rapat, 5pm), USM v Uniten (USM, 5pm).
