Division One teams cruise into MJHL semi-finals

As expected, all the four Division One teams cruised into the semifinals of the MHC-Milo-NSC Malaysia Junior Hockey League (MJHL).

Defending champions SSTMI-Thunderbolt led the way with a 6-1 triumph over 1MAS Perlis in the quarter-finals second-leg match at the Kangar Hockey Stadium yesterday for a massive 16-1 aggregate win.

Joining them in the last four are Pahang SS-Thunderbolt, Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) and Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL).

Pahang SS drew 2-2 with BJSS Juniors at the Education Ministry Turf in Jalan Pantai to advance with an 8-3 aggregate. MBPJ also drew their match, 1-1 with SMK Datuk Bentara Luar (SMKDBL) for a 4-2 aggregate win at the SMKDBL Hockey Turf in Johor Baru.

The other match played at the Sungai Petani Hockey Stadium saw UniKL whipping Nur Insafi 5-1 to sail through on an 8-1 aggregate win.

SSTMI will face Pahang SS in the first leg of the semi-finals on Wednesday. The other semi-final, also on Wednesday, is between MBPJ and UniKL.

Having won 10-0 in the first leg at the same venue on Friday, SSTMI fielded a number of their reserves yesterday. But they still packed too much power for the Perlis outfit.

It was 1MAS-Perlis who took the lead through Mohamed Hanif Saad in the fourth minute. But SSTMI regained their composure to score through Mohamed Firdaus Omar (two), Mohamed Alif Syazwan, Mohamed

Now we have to focus on the next task at hand ... The semi-finals will be a different story. We’ll use the next two days to recover from our exertions.

— SSTMI TEAM Manager ADAM IZAMRY IDRUS

Husaini Hussin, Mohamed Amirul Hamizan and Misniwan Gusni.

SSTMI team manager Adam Izamry Idrus was delighted with another easy win.

“Now we have to focus on the next task at hand. We are happy that the players all got a game and it will help them to settle down quickly. The semi-finals will be a different story. We’ll use the next two days to recover from our exertions,” said Adam.