It’s five-in-a-row
League leaders MBPJ continue winning run
KUALA LUMPUR: Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) continued their winning ways with another come-from-behind 2-1 win over MSS Penang-USM in the MHC-Milo-NSC Junior Hockey League match at the National Hockey Stadium yesterday.
It was PJ team’s fifth straight win and they have two matches remaining against Malacca High School on Saturday in Malacca and double champions Tunku Mahkota Ismail Sports School (SSTMI)-Thunderbolt in Johor Baru on Sunday.
MBPJ, the 2006 overall champions, also came back from a goal down to beat MBI-Anderson 2-1 on Friday.
In yesterday’s match, minnows MSS PenangUSM surprised the PJ team by taking the lead through Mohd Rahimi Iskandar Baharom from close range in the 24th minute.
But MBPJ fought back to equalise three minutes later through Mohd Shahrizam Zali off a penalty corner flick.
They kept up the pressure after the breather to hunt for more goals and were rewarded with a field goal from Ahmad Shah Iqwan Harun in the 50th minute. MBPJ assistant team manager Zanal Abidin praised his boys for another comefrom-behind win.
“We had a slow start but we only started playing well after conceding a goal. Although we had a narrow win, I am happy with my team’s performance for winning their fifth match,” said Zanal.
Zanal said his team were just two matches away from winning their first ever league title.
“We have a one-week break before we play against Malacca High School and Thunderbolt. Winning the league title will depend on how my boys play in the two crucial matches,” said Zanal.
At the adjacent pitch, Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) created the biggest win of the day by hammering MBI-Anderson 8-0 to move up to the second spot in Division. Fitri Ismail scored a brace for UniKL in the 23rd and 26th minutes. The other goals came from Haziq Samsul (13th), Syafiq Zulzairin (18th), Izzat Ikmal (48th), Hafif Elkan (59th), Ashran Hamsani (63rd) and Azrul Hasbullah (69th).
UniKL team manager Mohd Faiz said that they were not surprised that MBPJ were the frontrunners for the league title after yesterday’s matches.
“But they will face their real test against double champions Thunderbolt next week,” said Faiz, adding that although they won with a big margin, goal difference would not be a factor.
UniKL’s next match is against Malacca High School on Thursday and they wrap up the fixtures against Thunderbolt on Saturday.