HOCKEY: Uphill Task For Anderson

MBI Anderson came back strongly in the second leg Milo Cup quarter-finals to beat Sapura 2-0 to set up a semi-final date with league champions SSTMI Thunderbolts.

Thunderbolts’ Khairol Shafik (left) and MBPJ’s Fitri Hidayat vie for the ball in their Milo Cup second leg quarter-final match yesterday. Pic by Adib Rawi

The first leg ended in a 1-1 draw but the Ipoh school team beat a fighting Sapura with goals from Ashran Hamsani in the 54th and Najib Hassan in the 63rd minute.

However, the semi-finals will be an uphill task for Anderson, as they lost 6-0 to Thunderbolts in the league.

Yesterday, Thunderbolts beat Petaling Jaya Municipal Council 4-0, to win 11-1 on aggregate.

Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) also qualified for the semi-finals after they beat Malacca High School (MHS) 3-1 in the return leg for a 9-2 aggregate win.

BJSS will meet UniKL in the two-leg semi-final on Wednesday and Friday.

UniKL also beat USM Juniors 3-1 in the return leg, for an 9-2 aggregate win.

Yesterday, BJSS took things easy, as they had a 6-1 cushion from the first leg, and scored off Noor Khairul Adnan in the fifth minute.

However, MHS equalised through Zulamirul Akmal in the 23rd minute before BJSS scored two more goals via Redzhwan Jaafar in the 23rd and Fitri Ismail in the 68th.

USM Juniors scored in the 42nd minute off Abdul Muhaimin Aziz who converted a penalty stroke but UniKL equalised when Syafiq Zulzairin scored in the 58th minute while Hafiz Zainol scored two late goals in the 65th and 69th minutes to seal the win.


"We already had a healthy lead after the first leg and there was no need to push the players today (yesterday). The semi-final (against UniKL) will be a touch-and-go match, as I believe both the teams have players capable of turning the tables when presented with opportunity," said BJSS manager Jusvinder Pal Singh.

RESULTS -- Q-finals, 2nd leg: Bukit Jalil Sports School 3 Malacca High School 1 (BJSS win on 9-2 aggragate); USM Juniors 1 UniKL Young Guns 3 (UniKL win on 9-2 aggregate); Petaling Jaya Municipal Council 0 SSTMI Thunderbolts 4 (Thunderbolts win on 11-1 aggregate); MBI Anderson 2 Sapura 0 (Anderson win on 3-1 aggregate).


WEDNESDAY FIXTURES (Feb 29) -- S-finals, 1st leg: SSTMI-Thunderbolts v Sapura/MBI-Anderson (5pm), Bukit Jalil SS vs UniKL (7pm).


March 2 -- S-finals, return leg: UniKL vs Bukit Jalil SS (5pm), Sapura/MBI Anderson v SSTMI Thunderbolts (7.30pm).

n (All semi-final matches at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil).
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