MBPJ Tigers resigned to being also-rans in MJHL

KUALA LUMPUR: Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) Tigers have given up hope of retaining the Malaysian Junior Hockey League (MJHL) Division One title after only managing four points from four matches.

This is one of their worst performance in the Under-19 league.

In the opening match, they could only manage a 1-1 draw against Tunku Mahkota Ismail Sports School (SSTMI) Juniors.

In the next two matches they were upset by Pahang Hockey Academy (AHP)-SSPThunderbolt (3-1) and Anderson-Thunderbolt (4-1) before bouncing back to beat Old La Sallians Association of Klang (Olak) 4-0.

MBPJ team manager Norazizah Mukijan said that they can forget about retaining the league title after struggling in the first three matches.

“We lost eight valuable points in the first three matches. We were considered unlucky in the first three matches as we created chances but were let down by poor finishing.

“To make matters worse, we also conceded goals from counter attacks of our opponents,” she said.

Norazizah, who has been the team manager of MBPJ since last year, said with the league title out of their hands, their next challenge is to finish in the top six to qualify for the overall Cup.

“We have five more matches to play and we will take it one match at a time. We have to collect points in every match but it is not going to be easy as we have some tough matches to play,” said Norazizah.

MBPJ’s next match are against SMK Datuk Bentara Luar-UniKL-PHJ on April 4 followed by Young Lion of Perlis (April 6), SSMS Resilient (April 15), Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS)-Thunderbolt (April 18) and defending overall champions SSTMI-Thunderbolt (April 24).