Army Juniors make their mark

ARMED FORCES Juniors pocketed a cool RM30,000 for wining the Division One title in the Malaysia Hockey League with two matches to spare.
And the fact that they beat both Bandar Penawar and Bukit Jalil Sports Schools should be reason enough for them to celebrate their title.
For both the Sports Schools players virtually grew up together, while the Army Juniors only started intensive training in September last year.
“Our Juniors only drew one (0-0 against Ipoh) out of the 10 matches they have played and won the title with two matches to spare. The team and its management deserves praise because we only started training in September last year,” said Armed Forces HA deputy president Lt Kol B. Muthuku mar.
The groundwork was done by former national juniors coach K. Rajan and also Army coach Warren Officer Ka maruddin Misman.
“Rajan and Kamaruddin held joint training for both our teams (Armed Forces-Airod as well as Juniors) and we only formed two teams close to the MHL start.
“Now, the Juniors will get a chance to play against Premier Division teams in the knock-out stage of the MHL.”
The title also came with a spot in the MHL quarter-finals as well as promotion to the Premier Division next season.
However, the Armed Forces-Airod team, which finished second in Division One last season and gained promotion to the Premier Division, are fighting relegation as they are second from the bottom.
“Some of our players in the Premier Division need to be replaced with talent from the Junior side, and I believe we will be better prepared to play in the tougher bracket next season,” said Muthukumar.
Army Juniors next play UniTen who they beat 4-0 in the first leg, and Bandar Penawar who they beat 3-1 earlier.
The battle for the second spot in Division One is still wide open as four teams are still within striking distance.
DIVISION ONE: Friday -- Malacca CC v Ipoh City Hall (Malacca, 5pm), Universiti Sains Malaysia v Bukit Jalil Sports School (USM, 5pm), UniTen v Bandar Penawar Sports School (KLHA Stadium, 5pm).
Sunday: Malacca CC v Bukit Jalil Sports School (Malacca, 5pm), Universiti Sains Malaysia v Bandar Penawar Sports School (USM, 5pm), UniTen v Armed Forces Juniors (KLHA, 5pm).
Feb 25: Bukit Jalil Sports School v UniTen (Ministry of Education Stadium, 5pm), Armed Forces Juniors v bandar Penawar Sports School (Tun Razak Stadium, 5pm).

DIVISION ONE
P W D L F A Pt
ATM JNR 10 9 1 0 27 7 28
BPSS 9 5 0 4 16 15 15
MALACCA CC 10 5 0 5 14 12 15
IPOH CH 11 4 2 5 18 23 14
BJSS 9 4 1 4 19 13 13
USM 10 3 0 7 16 28 9
UNITEN 9 1 2 6 9 21 5