Friday, February 21, 2014

Easy for Olak..

OLD La Sallians Association of Klang (Olak-PKT) beat Nur Insafi of Penang 4-1 for a comfortable win in the Division Two Junior Hockey League playoffs at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil Thursday.
   And in another match yesterday, MSP Pahang beat Bakat MSSK 3-2.
   Six teams from Division Two are involved in the round-robbin playoffs, where four will advance to the quarterfinals against Division One sides SSTMI Thunderbolts, UniKL Young Guns, Petaling Jaya Municipal Council and Malacca High School.
   Yesterday, Division Two top-scorer Mawardi Hamirin was the toast for Olak-PKT, as he assisted in the first goal, and then helped himself to two more goals to bring his tally to 12 goals.
   The 18-year-old Mawardi from Sabah has a knack of making the right passes in the semi-circle, and looks set be be among the names which 2016 Junior World Cup coach Arul Selvaraj will name next week in his training squad.
   Yesterday, the Olak-PKT goals were scored by V. Dilip (11th), Noor Khairul Azri (14th), Mawardi (20th, 40th). The Nur Insafi consolation was scored by Abdul Muhaimin in the 59th minute.
   "I expected a win, but not such a high margin as Nur Insafi are the Group A champions. Credit is also due to my players, as they never let up the pressure from the start," said Olak team manager Joseph de Silva.
   Olak-Pkt will next play Bukit Jalil Sports School today at the same venue.
   "Our top-scorer Mawardi should turn out to be an asset to the country in the near future, and I would  not be surprised if he makes his name in the 2016 Junior World Cup," said Joseph.
    On Bukit Jalil today, Joseph feels it will be a tougher match: "But we are ready for them, as our aim is to play in Division One next year."
    Nur Insafi were a jaded side, and only came alive in the last 10 minutes of the match, but it was too late to salvage the game.
   FRIDAY: Olak-PKT v BJSS (5pm), Bakat MSSK v Politeknik KPM (5pm). Both matches at the National Hockey Stadium Pitch II.