Monday January 14, 2013

UniKL make nervous start

By S. RAMAGURU

Narrow win: Kuala Langat’s M. Idham Daniel celebrates his goal against MSSJJohor HA in a Division Two Group B match at the Education Ministry Turf in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. Kuala Langat won 3-2.

KUALA LUMPUR: Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) kicked off their MHC-Milo-NSC Junior Hockey League campaign with a 6-2 win over SSTMI Juniors at the Taman Daya Hockey Stadium in Johor Baru yesterday.

But it was a match that UniKL, last year’s runners-up to Thunderbolt, could have won by a bigger margin but they let their guard down after taking a commanding 6-0 lead.

Meor Azuan (10th minute), Fitri Ismail (19th), Nor Azrul Rahman (31st), Dzahiruddin Illyas (33rd) Syafiq Zulzairin (48th) and Wan Mohamad Hazrul (53rd) were on target for UniKL. Then surprisingly, UniKL went on the defensive and their casual play saw them concede two goals.

UniKL team manager Mohamed Faiz Isa said the slippery pitch conditions affected the team’s performance.

“Performance wise, we could have played much better but the three points are important to start the tournament. We were complacent after taking the lead and really should have been sharper in front of goal.

“In a league where ultimately goals could decide the title, as was the case last year, we know the importance of scoring. But it was not meant to be. But we hope to bounce back as it was a nervous display,” added Mohamed Faiz.

At the National Hockey Stadium, Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) won their second match when they edged Bukit Jalil Sports School 1-0.

Mohamed Norikhwan Rahman was the hero with a penalty corner conversion in the 46th minute. It was BJSS’ second defeat. On Friday, they were also beaten 1-0 by Thunderbolt.

At the Bukit Serindit Stadium in Malacca, hosts Malacca High School (MHS) came back from a three-goal deficit to earn a 3-3 draw with MBI-Anderson.

Anderson took the lead after only three minutes through Sofian Kamaruddin. Six minutes later, it was 2-0 through Khairul Adha. T.N. Kaatigan then put his name on the scoresheet in the 19th minute for Anderson to surge to a comfortable lead.

MHS, however, refused to give up and managed to reduce the deficit to 3-1 in the 26th minute through Luqman Nurhakim.

And then in a two-minute spell late in the match, MHS managed to salvage a point. Amir Farhan made it 3-2 in the 63rd minute and there was joy in the MHS camp after MBI-Anderson scored an own goal.

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