Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) head coach Arul Selvaraj has called on his young players to continue the momentum as the TNBMHL 2015 Premier Division moves into the second round on Friday.
UniKL have yet to win any of their last four first round matches and Arul is not ‘bitter‘ about it at all. The team has played exceptionally well and lost with narrow margins.
All UniKL need to do now is improve defensively, starting with Terengganu Hockey Team (THT) on Friday and Maybank on Sunday at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
However, the first round match between UniKL and Maybank which was washed away by rain on 13 August will be played at a later date.
For the record, Arul’s UniKL led 2-1 against double champions THT at the Batu Buruk Stadium in Kuala Terengganu last Sunday before succumbing to a 4-2 defeat in the late stages of the match
‘So far for the weekend I think we are just concerned with one injury which is Nor Azrul Abdul Rahman. I think it is a slight hamstring problem but it is yet to be determined if it’s a tear or just a sprain,” he said.
“However, we are looking forward to the games against Terengganu Hockey Team and Maybank this weekend. For the first leg I think we had a great outing in Terengganu. Off course we lost the game but overall in terms of possession, ball handling and managing situations we did very well,” added the coach who has 10 players from the Project 2016 Squad in his team.
He concluded that UNIKL were once again letdown by the same silly errors – concentration, fatigue and individual errors that resulted in them losing the game 4-2 against THT.
“Overall if we still go this way we should be definitely setting results and we will be strong in the quarterfinals. I am confident every game we play now we will go for a win. Against KLHC we lost 1-0 and that was a good game. Hopefully we get a bit more luck on our side to tap in the bouncy balls in front of the opponent’s goalmouth,” said Arul today.
UniKL started the TNBMHL 2015 season with a 2-1 defeat against Sapura, lost 3-2 to Tenaga Nasional Berhad, edged 1-0 by four-time champions KLHC and gave a fright to THT before going down 4-2.
In other Premier Division matches scheduled on Friday, TNB plays Sapura while KLHC entertain Maybank. All matches will be played at the National Hockey Stadium.
Fixtures – Friday – Premier Division: KLHC v Maybank (6.0pm), UniKL v THT (8.0pm), TNB v Sapura (8.0pm). All matches played at National Hockey Stadium, Bukit Jalil.
Division 1A: BJSS v TNB Thunderbolt (KPM ground, 5.0pm); MSNT/PHT v MSP-YP-SSP (Kuantan, 5.pm).
Division 1B: PKS-KPM v SSTMI (4.0pm); UITM v ATM Airod (6.0pm). All matches at National Hockey Stadium, Bukit Jalil.
Women’s Group A: MSNT/PHT v Penang Juniors (SHBB Stadium, 5.0pm); Group B: Manjung HA v SSTMI Thunderbolt (Sultan Azlan Shah Stadium, 5.0pm).
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