UniKL-TRC (2-0-0) became the surprised league leader of the ongoing TNB-MHL Premier League when it recorded an upset 2-1 win against a more fancied YNS (1-0-1) team on December 31 2010. The Yayasan Negeri Sembilan (YNS) team which parades 11 import players but lost the service of 3 Pakistan internationals due to club commitment back home took the lead in 19th minute through Arvind. However UniKL-TRC managed to score successive penalty corner goals from Richard Petherick in the 22nd and 30th minute that gave UniKL-TRC the lead and also the match winner. UniKL-TRC should have scored more goals if not for poor finishing from the forwards and the goal post that denied Petherick his second hattrick from as many matches.

With 2 wins from 2 games, UniKL-TRC jumped to the top of the table and that bolds well for the team which didn’t win a single game in 2009/10 campaign and saw the team finished in sixth (last) position. The young players that have been with the team from last season and the Junior League Overall Championship team have shown better maturity and starting to form a potent partnership with the senior and foreign players. UniKL-TRC reign at the top of the league is expected to be short-lived when the league resume on Sunday where TNB (1-1-0), KLHC (1-0-1) and Sapura (1-0-1) will take on lesser teams while UniKL-TRC receive a bye-day.

UniKL-TRC coach Darren Smith was quoted as saying, “We played relatively well and it was three hard earned points for us. There is still much to do, especially in holding on to the ball and making chances count, but we hope to iron out these areas in training. My boys were more settled compared to their previous match. We were strong in defense as we did not give much room to YNS especially their star player Shakeel Abasi in the semi-circle. My forwards also played a tremendous match but they can be better. I think the team will improve as the tournament progresses”.

A small number of UniKL-TRC supporters turned up for the match that was played on the special public holiday to commemorate the success of the Malaysian football team in the just concluded AFF Suzuki Cup. The team would like to plead for more supporters to turn up for future matches to spur the team starting from the tough matches next week in Ipoh against traditional powerhouse Sapura and TNB:-

7 Jan 2011 (Fri)        8.45 pm     UniKL-TRC vs Sapura    Stadium Hoki Azlan Shah, Ipoh
8 Jan 2011 (Sat)       6.30 pm     UniKL-TRC vs TNB       Stadium Hoki Azlan Shah, Ipoh

UniKL-TRC will play another 14 matches before the league ends and enter the knock-out stage. For latest news, updates and info, UniKL Hockey team can be followed on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com; search “UniKL-IBIL Hockey Team”), Twitter (http://twitter.com/UniKLHockey), UniKL Hockey Official Website and on MHL Unofficial Website (http://www.tnbmhl.com.my).

AMIR AZHAR IBRAHIM
Team Manager