ACC : E&Y coach says Pakistani club could dent their hopes at ACC tournament

Ernst and Young boast of having 17 players in the national training squad and they will start as favourites to win the third edition of the Asian Champion Clubs (ACC) tournament, which starts on Thursday at the KL Hockey Stadium.

But team manager George Koshy has taken a cautious look at the Pakistani club, Olympian Village, even though no information was forthcoming on their strength.

Ernst and Young are in Group A with the National Juniors and Thai Royal Air Force. Olympian Village are in Group B with Singapore Recreation Club and Adijon of Uzbekistan. The top team in the group will play in the final.

“I understand that they have some former and current Olympians in their ranks. We have not seen their team list and therefore we cannot take them for granted at this stage,” said George.

Ernst and Young are the defending league champions of the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) and have gone great guns in the ongoing Division One tournament.

They hold a nine-point advantage over their nearest rivals at the top of the standings. One more win from their remaining four matches will give them the title again.

George added that there would be no let up from his team when they resume competition in the MHL against Sapura on Nov 19.

“The lead in the MHL give us some breathing space and we can concentrate on the ACC this week. But we have to be cautious and not get carried away. We have not played well in some of the (MHL) matches but it’s the results that count,” he said.

“Previously, we played entertaining hockey but the results were not there. So now we are more result orientated.”

Ernst and Young will pick their squad of 18 players for the ACC tomorrow. George said that they had a few players nursing injuries and would wait until the last moment to name their squad.