SSTMI hope to secure MJHL title early with two victories

KUALA LUMPUR: This weekend will be pivotal to SSTMI-Thunderbolt’s hopes of retaining the Division One title in the Malaysian Junior Hockey League (MJHL).

The MJHL will resume on Friday – after a 12day break – and SSTMI have two important matches awaiting them.

They play BJSS-Thunderbolt on Friday and Politeknik Malaysia on Saturday. Win these two matches, and SSTMI are virtually assured of the league title.

SSTMI lead the 10team Division One standings with a perfect 15 points from five matches, while secondplaced SSPMSP-Thunderbolt (Pahang Sports School) have 12 points from five matches.

It won’t be easy for SSTMI against BJSS.

That’s because BJSS, having lost just once so far, know that a win will boost their own title challenge.

SSTMI team manager Adam Izamry Idrus admitted that his players will have to step up to the plate and get the job done as early as possible.

“Every match is crucial for us. It puts a lot of pressure on the players, so we have to pace ourselves and make sure we’re ready for every game,” he said.

Adam admitted that facing three of their title challengers – including last year’s runnersup UniKL – would be a daunting task.

“BJSS and Pahang Sports School are still title contenders. We also have to meet last year’s runnersup UniKL ... they can act as spoilers,” he said.

“The 12day break has given all the teams the chance to train and rectify their mistakes. All the teams will be refreshed and ready.”

After BJSS and Politeknik, SSTMI two remaining matches against Pahang Sports School (Feb 19) and UniKL (Feb 21).

“We are injuryfree and we have been focusing on scoring in training. We need to convert more of our penalty corner chances. We’re happy with the number of field goals we’ve scored,” said Adam.

SSTMI have scored 26 goals for a +22 goal difference. Only Pahang Sports School have scored more goals – 28.

But the Pahang side have let in seven goals and have a +21 goal difference.