1MAS Tampin and Perlis raring for action..

NEW success stories are few and far between in the MHC-Milo-NHC Junior Hockey League, so the progress of two 1Mas teams into the Division Two play-offs have got some excited.
  Division One, as predicted turned out to be another Thunderbolts success story as they are virtually assured of the League title, while the Milo Cup also looks to be theirs for the taking.
  And if the former Bandar Penawar Sports School, now named Tengku Mahkota Ismail Sports School (SSTMI) play to form, this season would see them win the double for the fourth consecutive year.
  UniKL and Petaling Jaya City Council (PJCC) will again play the bridesmaid, and the Best Man at Thunderbolts party.
  However, development sides 1MAS TBSS Tampin and 1MAS Perlis are out to measure themselves with teams from other regions in the Division Two, playoffs which starts on Feb 26.
  Both are hoping to finish in the top-two bracket, in order to play in the Milo Cup, where they will compete against the top four from Division One.
  The six teams from Division Two have qualified for the play-off are Nurinsafi-PHA, 1Mas TBSS Tampin, MSNT-THT, 1 MAS Perlis, BJSS Juniors, SMKDBL Johor HA.
  Teams from Perlis (Y), Penang (X), Terengganu (Y), Kuala Lumpur (X), Johor (Y) and Negri Sembilan (X) have been placed in two groups of X and Y and they will play all their matches in Kuala Lumpur.
   The top two teams from Group X and Y will then join the top 4 teams of Division One for the overall Milo Cup knockout stage which will be played on a home and away basis. The final is on March 15.
  For 1MAS Perlis, it is their first time venturing out of the Northern region group: "Our players 16 and 17-year-olds, and I'm proud and satisfied that the team is finally coming good since being together for the last three years," said team manager Badrisham Che Yob.
  "We were close to qualifying for the Division Two playoffs for the last two years but were knocked out on goal difference.
   "I told the boys that since we are in the second round, let's go one step better. The boys are looking confident and the exposure will be great."
 1MAS TBSS Tampin team manager M. Vivekananda said the play-offs provides a chance to gauge his players better. They play Nurinsafi-Penang Hockey on Feb 26.
   "The earlier round felt like a district tournament as we only played Southern teams. The playoff allows us to measure ourselves against teams from the North and East Coast," he said.
   "The first match will be tough. Our team is made up of schoolboys while there are some seasoned players in Nur Insafi, who were doing great in the Northern region."
  The four Division One teams for the Milo Cup are champions-elect SSTMI Thunderbolts, UniKL, PJCC and SSP-MSP-Thunderbolt.
   UniKL and PJCC go head-on on Feb 27 in a winner take-all battle for second spot in the league.

UniKL step closer to second spot..

UNIKL Young Guns kept their hopes alove of finishing second in Division One of the MHC-Milo-NSC Junior Hockey League when they edged SSTMI Juniors 2-1 in Johor Baru.
  Hafif Elkan (23rd) and Nur Faiz Rosli (32nd) made sure for UniKL while SSTMI Juniors skipper Nurasyraf Rosli narrowed the gap in the 41st minute but the University side held on for full points.
  UniKL are now second on the standings behind Petaling Jaya City Council (PJCC) and both the teams square off next week to decide the second spot.
  Defending champions Thunderbolts are clear favourites for the title as they meet their juniors in the final league fixture.
  Meanwhile, six teams from Division Two have qualified for the play-off and they are Nurinsafi-PHA, 1Mas TBSS Tampin, MSNT-THT, 1 MAS Perlis, BJSS Juniors, SMKDBL Johor HA.
  And interestingly all six are from different states, while powerhouse Perak failed to get any of their five Division Two teams inoto the play-offs.
  Teams from Perlis (Y), Penang (X), Terengganu (Y), Kuala Lumpur (X), Johor (Y) and Negri Sembilan (X) have been placed in two groups of X and Y and they will play all their matches in Kuala Lumpur.
  The top two teams from Group X and Y will then join the top 4 teams of Division One for the overall Milo Cup knockout stage which will be played on a home and away basis. The final is on March 15.
  RESULTS -- Division One: KLHC 0 BJSS 1, SSP-MSP-Thunderbolts 2 Politeknik Malaysia 0, SSTMI Juniors 1 UniKL Young Guns 2.
  Division Two Group C: 1Mas Johor 0 SMK Tun Hussien Onn 2.
 
DIVISION ONE

               P  W  D  L  F  A  Pts
THUNDERBOLTS   7  6  1  0  29 9  19
UNIKL          7  6  0  1  29 10 18
PJCC           7  5  2  0  22 7  17
PSS T'DERBOLTS 7  4  0  3  16 13 12
KLSS-KLHC      7  2  2  3  9  11 8
OLAK           8  2  0  6  10 27 6
POLITEKNIK     7  1  1  5  6  17 4
BJSS           6  2  0  4  6  16 6
SSTMI JNR      6  0  0  6  3  20 0

PJCC drop two points..

PETALING Jaya City Council (PJCC) dropped two crucial points when they drew 1-1 with KL Sports School in Division One of the MHC-Milo-NSC Junior Hockey League at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.
  The draw put paid to their quest of finishing second in the League, as UniKL with two matches in hand are snapping at their heels.
  PJCC's haikal Zanri gave them the lead in the eighth minute, but KLSS drew level off a Hariz Syazani goal in the 33rd minute and held on for the remainder of the match.
  In another Division One match, Olak PKT Tigers claimed their second win of the tournament when they beat Politreknik 1-0 with an Ammirul Hafiz goal in the 54th minute.
  Double champions Thunderbolts are champions in waiting as they only have one more match against their juniors next weekend to seal the title.
  PJCC team manager Zanal Abidin rued their missed sitters: "We had many chances to seal three points but failed to convert. Now we only have an outside chance of finishing second, provided we win our final match against UniKL (next Friday). But I believe its going to be a tough match going by UniKL's form this season."
  RESULTS -- Division One: PJCC 1 KLSS 1, Olak PKT Tigers 1 Politeknik 0.
  Division Two Group A: SM Sains 0 1MAS Pahang 4, BJSS Jnrs 4 MSNT-THT 1.
  Group B: MSS Kedah 0 ISMO PHA 6, Nur Insafi PHA 0 1Mas Perlis 3, Larut matang 0 1Mas Penang 13.
  Group C: Datuk Taha 0 1Mas Malacca 10, SMSJ Kinghts 4 1Mas TBSS 6.
  TODAY -- Division One: KLHC v BJSS (KLHA), SSP-MSP-Thunderbolts v Politeknik Malaysia (Temerloh), SSTMI Juniors v UniKL Young Guns (Taman Daya).
  Division Two Group C: 1Mas Johor v SMK Tun Hussien Onn (Batu Pahat).
  Note: All matches at 4.45pm.


DIVISION ONE

               P  W  D  L  F  A  Pts
THUNDERBOLTS   7  6  1  0  29 9  19 
PJCC           7  5  2  0  22 7  17 
UNIKL          6  5  0  1  27 9  15
PSS T'DERBOLTS 6  3  0  3  14 13 9
KLSS-KLHC      6  2  2  2  9  10 8
OLAK           8  2  0  6  10 27 6
POLITEKNIK     6  1  1  4  6  15 4
BJSS           5  1  0  4  5  16 3
SSTMI JNR      5  0  0  5  2  18 0

UniKL fail to stop Thunderbolts..

DOUBLE champions Thunderbolts reaffirmed their pedigree when they beat UniKL Young Guns 4-2 to keep their grip on the Division One title in the MHC-Milo-NSC Junior Hockey League.
  They have one more match against their juniors next week, where three points are assured, and the match will come with the League title as well.
  Playing at home at the Taman Daya Stadium in Johor Baru, Thunderbolts were given an early scare when UniKL's Badrul Amin scored a field goal in the 16th minute.
  However, the champions equalsied off a penalty stroke converted by Danial Asyraf in the 22nd minute and then took the lead off a Shello Silverius field goal in the 34th minute.
  UniKL drew level in the 45th minute off a S. Deveandren penalty stroke, but Thunderbolts scored two more off Danial (52nd) and Firdaus Omar 64th to seal the match.
  Thunderbolts coach Wan Roslan Wan Rahman said: “I didn’t know what to expect from my players today (yesterday) after a poor performance last week. My message to them was to get out there and take the game to UniKL and they did it perfectly,”
  “We still have one more game before we can confirm the title so I will have to ensure that my players remain focused on what needs to be done.”
  RESULTS -- Division One: Thunderbolts 4 UniKL Young Guns 2, Olak PKT Tigers 2 PJCC 5, BJSS 1 SSP/MSP/Thunderbolt 2.
  Division Two: Sek Tunku Abdul Rahman 5 1MAS Pahang 1, KLSS 1 MSNT-PHT 1, 1MAS Penang 1 SM Agama Matri 3, SMK Tun Hussein Onn 3 1MAS TBBS Tampin 3, SMK Datuk Taha 1 SMKDBL 9.
  TODAY -- Division One: PJCC v KLHC (National Stadium I), Olak PKT Tigers v Politeknik (National Stadium II).
  Division Two Group A: SM Sains v 1MAS Pahang (Azlan Shah Stadium), BJSS Jnrs v MSNT-THT (Ministry of Education).
  Group B: MSS Kedah v ISMO PHA (Padang Serai), Nur Insafi PHA v 1Mas Perlis (Sungai Petani), Larut matang v 1Mas Penang (Kuala Kangsar).
  Group C: Datuk Taha v 1Mas Malacca (Seremban II), SMSJ Kinghts v 1Mas TBSS Tampin (Batu Pahat).
  Note: All matches at 4.45pm.



DIVISION ONE

                                   P  W  D  L  F  A  Pts
THUNDERBOLTS   7  6  1  0  29 9  19 
PJCC                         6  5  1  0  21 6  16 
UNIKL                      6  5  0  1  27 9  15
PSS T'DERBOLTS 6  3  0  3  14 13 9
KLSS-KHC       5  2  1  2  8  9  7
POLITEKNIK     5  1  1  3  6  14 4
BJSS           5  1  0  4  5  16 3
OLAK           7  1  0  6  9  27 3
SSTMI JNR      5  0  0  5  2  18 0

FumingMHC president calls off AGM..

A FUMING Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah took only six minutes to call off the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Kuala Lumpur Friday.
  The delegates, as well as Sports Commissioner Datuk Zaiton Othman were all suited up, but Tengku Abdullah did not wear the MHC blazer as he was ashamed of it.
  He also gave a new name the MHC -- Malaysian Hockey Confrontation.
  "As you can see I did not wear the MHC blazer as I'm ashamed of all that has been happening leading to the AGM and elections, we should now  call  it the MHC Malaysian Hockey Confrontation.
  "The AGM is postponed and we will start again by holding a council meeting in the first week of March to set the date for a re-look at the constitution as well as other matters," said Tengku Abdullah.
  He also warned the delegates not to bring disrepute to the MHC, which indirectly affects him: "I'm going to contest in FIFA (for Executive Board member) and don't bring disrepute to the MHC any more."
  One delegate summed it up when he said: :I drove for six hours and attended a six minute meeting."
  The mess was created after a hap-hazard EOGM in Johor Baru last October, where delegates voted to amend their constitution, but most of the proposed amendments were against the governing body's  
  "When I took over the Confederation, I did not know anybody except for the Pahang HA secretary, bity slowly I got to know everybody and had a comfortable stay. But recently, I am shocked with the tenacity of some members and am on a peace mission today (yesterday).
  "Malaysian hockey is ranked 12th in the world and not over 20. So lets behave like professionals and not behave like children. We need to uphold the dignity of the Confederation in the eyes of the world and towards that lets start by holding a council meeting.
  "This will be followed by amendments to the constitution, and from what I read the FIH wants gender equity not equality, so we need the same number from the women and men. If agreed, we can have two deputy presidents' so solve the issue.
  " We have a woeld class team, so lets behave like a world class organisation and resolve all issues amicably.
  "And with tomorrow (today) being Valentines Day, I propose that all of us holds hands and forgive and forget what happened.
  "This will be my last speech for hockey, as I expect everything to be sorted out with the FIH and also the Sports Commissioner by May.
  "I hereby declare that there will be no AGM today (yesterday) simply because some stakeholders are in dispute."
  Meanwhile, Tai Beng Hai will remain chief coach for the Azlan Shah Cup on May 5-12, while Neil Hawgood will continue as consultant.