Wise Man...

...He Was Not!

The Higher Education League (Liga IPT) 2011 has begun since early March with a number of higher education institutions in Terengganu taking part. Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) are playing in the second division while Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) and Kolej Komuniti Terengganu (KKT) are trying to qualify to the divisional tournament from their Eastern qualifying group.

Unfortunately, mad redo1 is yet to be at any of the matches due to other engagements or fixture mix-up. The other day he went to the Gong Badak Sports Complex to cover a Liga IPT match between UMT and IKIP.

As it happened the week before when there was supposed to be a match between UniSZA and UniSel, there was also no Liga IPT match anywhere within the sports complex. Instead the Terengganu Sports School, SMK Bukit Nanas were taking on SMK Tun Hussien Onn of Johor in the 2011 U-17 Ministry of Education League.

Since he was already there, mad redo1 decided to snap a few shots of the match which already went underway. The sight of the pitch gave him much horror as it was already in a bad state due to the heavy rain that has fallen over the past few days.

To compound the matter, an U-14 match between the two schools had already taken place prior to the U-17 match on the same pitch. Terengganu were a goal to the good at the time.

Then the sky opened up and torrential rain with strong wind engulfed the complex leaving almost everybody drenched. The pitch was quickly becoming waterlogged and play was impossible. Fortunately the interval saved the players from taking further punishment from mother nature.

Many were thinking the match would have to be abandoned due to the state of the pitch. Most parts were waterlogged and the markings were not clear at all. However the match commissioner gave the thumbs up for the match to go on.

It was a decision that defied belief. Later mad redo1 heard one of the reason for the match to go on was to teach the players to play in such conditions.

What the heck?

Did he realise that playing in such conditions would invite potential injuries to the young players? Or there was no good football possible except for the 'Wimbledon' kind that kick the ball as far up the field as possible and hope it would bring an opening to the opponents' goal out of it.

To make matter worse was the way the referee was handling the match. He seemed to happily blow every time a Johor player went down and was quite generous in handing out cards to the home team players, which resulted in a double yellow for one just prior to half-time. However he was very lenient when it came to the visitors.

This drew howls of frustration from the majority of the crowd which already entered the officials area due to the heavy rain.

Then someone from the home camp shouted angrily in a general direction, more due to frustration than any intention to cause any trouble. Unfortunately, the match commissioner who was quite experienced due to his long involvement in football refereeing responded, which was surprising.

It became a heated exchange during which the commissioner shouted for the man to 'bark' outside. Being equalled to a dog was the last straw and the crowd became rowdy. A few more joined in and suddenly nobody care about the match anymore, and the fact that Johor managed to level the score late in the match.

It was a tense moment with the match officials having to stay on the pitch to avoid confrontation while the commissioner quickly packed his things and went into hiding near to the home dressing room.

It was a situation that could be avoided had the match commissioner practice restraint and patience. Instead of responding the way he did, the match commissioner should act nonchalant and just record the progress of the match and its situation.

Perhaps, he should be wiser and not continuing with the match at all in the first place due to the pitch and weather conditions during the match.


...

Turtles Through...

...to the Last Four

Having done a good job in Ipoh last Tuesday, Terengganu completed the turn-around against Perak at the Sultan Ismail Nasirudin Shah Stadium last night with a 3-1 win. Goals from Reeshafiq Alwi, abdul Manaf Mamat and Abdul Hadi Yahya ensured The Turtles date with Pahang in the last four in May.

However, the match was in danger of being not played at all when circuit problems caused the floodlights to fail a number of times. However match officials decided to give it a go and the match went underway, albeit a few minutes off the scheduled kick-off time.

The home side made their intention clear from the start with Joseph Kalang Tie fired in a free kick from the right which was cleared in the second minute. Then his fellow Sarawakian Reeshafiq Alwi saw his shot from outside the box blocked by the Perak defence.

However, as the match entered its sixth minute, the light went out again much to the dismay of thousands of fans that throng the old stadium. The stadium was lit only by the light from the 'Supermoon' that made its once in 29 years appearance that night.

The likelihood of the match being postponed and played the next day was high. It could be a disaster for the home team. Fortunately, the match officials, much to their credit decided to give it another go when the lights was restored, perhaps thinking of a postponement would bring much anger to the fans.

Terengganu continued where they left prior to the blackout. The Perak defence had to be alert to stop a shot from Hadi and a minute later Ashaari Shamsudin broke through on the lft before squaring the ball to Manaf who could not direct his shot on target.

Perak continued to hold strongly while launching several attacks on their own but the Terengganu defence, led by skipper Marzuki Yusof who missed the first leg through injury was up to the task in quelling the visitors' attacks.

Goalkeeper Nasril Nourdin denied Hadi a goalscoring chance when he was quick enough to dive at the striker's feet after he was put through into the box in the 32nd minute.

Then six minutes before the interval Joseph Kalang delivered an inch perfect cross from the right and Reeshafiq stole between two Perak defenders to direct it past Nasril for the goal that put The Turtles in the driving seat.

They could go through on away goals rule if the score stayed the same till the end of the match. But Terengganu continued to press and with Perak having to attack to ensure their survival in the competition, they could exploit any gaps in the visitors' defence.

The sky opened up just when the match was about to end for the interval. The fans were soaked wet by the downpour but that did not dampen their support and the players responded well by continuing to press Perak, hitting the bar in the process.

Then six minutes after the restart Terengganu went ahead for the first time in the tie when Manaf blasted the ball from outside the penalty box and it went in at Nasril's near post. Terengganu were 4-3 ahead on aggregate.

The goal led to a spirited fightback by Perak who forced a succession of free-kicks around the Terengganu penalty area. Fortunately for the home fans the defence stood firm and goalkeeper Sharbinee Allawee was alert enough to palm away a curling effort which was going on target.

However he could do nothing when fifteen minutes from time Perak striker, Akmal Rizal Ahmad Rakhli levelled the aggregate score when his powerful shot from another free-kick hit the back of the net, despite Sharbinee managed to put a hand to it.

Terengganu still had the away goal advantage but they could not afford to just sit back and defend as another goal by Perak would knock them out from the competition. Joseph Kalang proved to be the torn in Perak's flesh all night with his tireless running and passing.

With just over ten minutes to go his pass put Hadi through and the striker shrugged off the challenge from two Perak defenders before stroking the ball past the diving Nasril, The Turtles were ahead again and they only needed to hold on for the remainder of the match.

For his effort throughout the match Joseph Kalang should have a goal to his name but it was not to be. He managed to create a chance for himself but could not keep his shot down.

With just a minute to go a stupid action by a section of the home fans saw the referee, Nagor Amir Noor Mohamad stopped the match. An object that was thrown by a fan had hit the referee assistant and this could see Terengganu being fined heavily by FAM.

More seriously, the match could be stopped which would be detrimental to Terengganu's cause.

Again, the referee decided to go on with the match after a while. There were four minutes of added minutes and during which Manaf and Ashaari tried their luck from afar but could not find the back of the net.

The four minutes went slowly for Terengganu fans but in the end the players prevailed and managed to hold on to the 3-1 scoreline as Perak tried their best to force extra-time with another goal.

Terengganu will play Pahang in an all east coast affair in the last four. The Elephants were held to a scoreless draw by Kuala Lumpur on Friday to advance on a 2-1 aggregate. The other semi-final will feature Selangor and Kelantan who overcame Johor and Felda United respectively with identical 5-2 aggregate victory.

RESULTS:

Pahang 0 Kuala Lumpur 0 (Pahang won 2-1 on aggregate)
Terengganu 3 Perak 1 (Terengganu won 5-4 on aggregate)
Johor 1 Selangor 2 (Selangor won 5-2 on aggregate)
Felda United 0 Kelantan 3 (Kelantan won 5-2 on aggregate)

2011 FA CUP SEMI-FINALS

Pahang vs Terengganu
Selangor vs Kelantan

The semi-finals are scheduled for 13 and 16 of May 2011.

...

Good Job...

...in Ipoh

It was not the best of results but it was not the worst either. Terengganu lost the first leg of their FA Cup quarter-final tie against Perak 3-2 at the Perak Stadium last night. The home side took the lead going into the fifteenth minute of play through Isma Alif Mohamad Salim but Terengganu striker, Abdul Manaf Mamat restored parity five minutes before the interval.

The match was evenly balanced for most of the second half but a three minutes spell eleven minutes from time saw Perak sitting comfortably in front with goals from Mohamad Fazrul Hazli Mohamad Kadri (79th) and Akmal Rizal Mohamad Rakhli (83rd) gave the home fans the feel good feeling for the second leg on Saturday.

However, Terengganu midfielder Reeshafiq Alwi's 90th minute strike reduced the gap to just a single goal, which meant The Turtles only need a single goal victory in Kuala Terengganu to go through to the last four of the competition.

Many Terengganu fans are feeling confident that their team will be able to do the necessary when the second leg starts this Saturday.

In other matches, Super League leaders Kelantan and Felda United battled to a 2-2 draw in Kota Bahru with goals coming from Zamri Chin and Liew Kit Kong for The Settlers while skipper Badri Radzi and Norshahrul Idlan Talaha scored for the home side as Kelantan failed to win for the second successive time.

The two sides will meet again on the same venue on Saturday for the second leg as the KLFA Stadium is still unavailable for football matches.

Another side which had to play their home match away from home was Kuala Lumpur. The City Boys 'entertained' Pahang at the Darul Makmur Stadium but fell behind when Amirul Ashraf Sayuti scored for the 'visitors' after half an hour.

Kuala Lumpur equalised through Ahmad Azlan Zainal ten minutes after the break but Pahang took a huge advantage for their home tie this Saturday when Azamuddin Akil netted their second in the 64th minute.

In the only tie involving team from the Premier League, Super League champions Selangor easily defeated Johor 3-1 at the Shah Alam Stadium. Hardi Jaafar, Rudie Ramli and Amri Yahyah found the back of the Johor net as the Red Giants looked like strolling to the last four.

However Mohamad Alif Mohamad Yusof pulled one back for the southerners to give them a glimmer of hope for the second leg tie in Johor Bahru.

RESULTS:

FA CUP QUARTER-FINALS, FIRST LEG

KUALA LUMPUR 1 vs PAHANG 2
PERAK 3 vs TERENGGANU 2
SELANGOR 3 vs JOHOR 1
KELANTAN 2 vs FELDA UNITED 2


...

Canaries Pecked Turtles...

...Again!

Terengganu suffered their second defeat of the season when Kedah staged a comeback at the Darul Aman Stadium in Alor Setar on Saturday night. Midfielder Reeshafiq Alwi opened his goal account for The Turtles after half an hour of play with a stunning volley from outside the penalty box.

However, Terengganu who playing without the injured skipper Marzuki Yusof in defence could not contain the home side attack and two quick goals from Khyrel Muhymeen and former Turtle, Firdaus Faudzi in a four minutes spell in the 64th and 67th minutes brought back the cheers to the home side, whose team was under the supervision of Radhi Mat Din for the first time after Ahmad Yusof was given his 'leave'.

In Kuala Terengganu, PBDKT T-Team and Perak could not lift themselves to find the rhythm to display good football in front of the home crowd, which totalled to less than a thousand, perhaps influenced by the rain that has been coming down for the past few days.

In a dour match, unbeaten Perak were let down by their poor finishing. Their best chance came midway through the first half when their striker, having beaten goalkeeper, Syamsuri Mustafa could only send the ball into the side-netting.

The best chance for T-Team came towards the end of the first half during an a spell which saw they dominated the match, striker Haris Safwan's effort was cleared off the line by the Perak defence.

In the end, both teams had to settle for a nil-nil scoreline.

Terengganu and Perak dropped to fifth and fourth respectively in the Super League table after this round of fixtures. Kedah climbed to eighth while T-Team remained second from bottom of the table.

On the night which saw leaders Kelantan's unbeaten record came to an end in Kuantan, it was a big opportunity for Perak take the lead at the top of the table. However, as it turned out Kelantan remained at the top of the pile but now they were joined by last season Premier League champions, Felda United and defending Super League champions, Selangor on fourteen points.

Pahang registered their third win to climb to sixth, even though for many it was rather unexpected against the high riding Stags. Negeri Sembilan's season turned for the worse after their home defeat against Selangor, which would turn more heat on coach Wan Jamak.

Johor FC and Kuala Lumpur played to a scoreless draw the day before and the match between Sabah and Harimau Muda 'A' was postponed due to unplayable pitch even though there were reports of the match being awarded to the Young Tigers.

...

I am Sailing...

...I am Sailing
Home again 'cross the sea
I am sailing, stormy waters
To be near you, to be free

Well, those are the opening lyrics to the famous 'Sailing' song by Rod Stewart. Part of it were true as the waters off Pulau Duyong was quite rough and the wind was challenging as mad redo1 and his band of brothers in the newly formed Team OMEGA took to the waters for the 2011 Heritage Bay Cup - Ides of March Edition.

With the recent high magnitude earthquake and tsunami in Japan, mad redo1 feared that the event might be cancelled but in the end it received a 'go ahead' from the relevant authorities.

With many of the Team AG:eing members were not available, thus the name was changed to Team OMEGA, mostly influenced by the hastily procured team attire which borne the name of the health drinks, Nesvita Omega Plus.

This time there was no Ai-Li in sight but we drew the name Sean who turned out to be a friend of the sea loving city girl. Sean told us Ai-Li would be starting a new job on Monday, thus could not make it to Pulau Duyong this time around.

Thus, mad redo1, Mat Ming and Abu of the original Team AG:eing boarded the F36 boat with a new set of crew of Vam, Jim, Robert and Airy. After an hour and a half practice session the team was ready for action which was scheduled to start at 1500hrs.

Once again, it was a good start and Team OMEGA finished the first race on a winward-leeward course in third place. The choppy waters and strong winds certainly tested the crew and with heavy rain coming down it was a whole new experience for mad redo1.

To mad redo1's amazement the exact same thing happened as it was during the Monsoon Cup Edition as Team OMEGA found themselves finishing last in the second race which was done in a trapezoid course.

Of course there was some moments when another team bumped into us which should have been penalised (but was not) and another hit the buoy (again, no penalty) that could see us finishing at least fourth.

The third race was back on a windward-leeward course and we rallied together and managed to finish fourth. with a 3-5-4 score, Team OMEGA occupied the the number four spot of the five teams event.

At least the initial objective of not finishing last was achieved.

Will Team AG:eing make a return in the scheduled June edition? It looks likely as Mrs Birch had already stated her intention to return and helms the F36 again.

To everybody in Team OMEGA, congratulations!



...

Howzat!

It was by chance that mad redo1 saw a boy running on the SKPCT field and began to swing his arm in a way that reminded him of his cricket playing days. Then he threw the ball towards a familiar looking apparatus that resembled a wicket.

Wait a minute.

It was a wicket and there was a batsman waiting to hit the delivery mad by the bowler. There were people playing cricket on his school pitch, something took him really by surprise as the sports was not really popular in Terengganu.

His curiosity took him to the pitch side where he met a group of innocent looking boys and a few older ones. Sitting on a concrete stool was a man who looked like a teacher. He turned out to be a teacher.

Encik Kamaruddin Husain was part of the officials for the Terengganu Under-12 and Under-18 Cricket squad preparing for the MSSM Cricket tournament scheduled to be held in Seremban during the school holidays.

We got into a long conversation regarding the state of cricket in the state, where the Terengganu Cricket Association was recently re-registered as an active association after being de-registered a few years ago due to lack of activity.

Frankly, mad redo1 had been away from the cricket scene for too long to keep up with its development.

It was a surprise to him that cricket is more popular among the day school compared to the days when he was still in secondary school when the sports were only played by boarding schools with tournaments revolved around zones rather than national meet.

Encik Kamaruddin himself is a teacher from Guntong Secondary School in Setiu. Frankly, have you heard anyone playing cricket in Setiu before? But there you are, a few of their students made it to the squad for the U-18 squad. Only four are from boarding schools.

Unfortunately, it's development received little encouragement due to the fact it is not a core sports. With a preparation of just two weeks and little tournament experience to go by, Encik Kamaruddin does not put too much hope in challenging for honours in Seremban.

However, he hopes that for the junior team members will stay on in the sports in order to form a good base of players that will challenge for honours in the future.

Terengganu Under-12 Squad: 

Wan Muhammad Najmuddin Wan Azmi (SK Kerandang, Besut); Muhammad Syafiq Fitri Aziz, Muhammad Hamizan Awang, Muhammad Azrie Ridzuan, Muhammad Khairul Amin Ismail (SK Sungai Buloh, Kuala Berang); Muhammad Rizan Tarmizi, Abdul Muhaimin Azhar (SK Balai Besar, Dungun); Muhammad Fikri Azli Amli (SK Gong Pasir, Dungun); Muhammad Daniel Abdul Ghaffar (SK Panchor Merah, Setiu); Muhammad Ammar Zakaria, Muhammad Fitri Mohamad Arman, Fairoz Fauzi (SK Bintang, Setiu); Hafiz Hakimi Sapri (SK Kompleks, Gong Badak); Muhammad Fahmi Norazezan, Qamaruddin Alias (SK Padang Kemunting, Kuala Terengganu)

Terengganu Under-18 Squad:

Muhammad Syahir Sazali, Amirul Syazwan Zokornain, Mohamad Khairul Azwan Sulaiman (SM Sains Dungun); Mohamad Nur Faris Mohamad Khir, Mohamad Faizuddin Abdul Kadir, Mahammad Asrul Mohamed, Mohamad Hasraf Adzmi, Tuan Mohamad Saiful Tuan Me (SMK Guntong, Setiu); Muhammad Azli Mohammad (SMK Kuala Jeneris, Hulu Terengganu); Abdul Hazim Awang, Muhammad Alif Mohammad (SMK Matang, Hulu Terengganu); Mohamad Muzammil Roslan, Ahmad Firdaus Mohamad Khir (SMK Tok Dor, Setiu); Mohamad Huzaifi Yahya (SMKA Nurul Ittifaq, Besut) Faiz Fawwaz Razak (SM Sains Sultan Mahmud)

Technical Chairman: Kasbie Yahya
Managers: Mohamad Hairi Mohamad Noor, Juhaimi Jaafar
Coaches: Yahya Mahad, Kamaruddin Husain


...

Wasted...

...Youth

It is good to see many football fans in Terengganu are still willing to lend the support to the two Terengganu teams competing in the 2011 President Cup tournament. However this season saw both teams are in the bottom half of their respective group's standings.

PBDKT T-Team (T-Team) are in Group A while Terengganu are in Group B.

The former only managed a single win from four outings and yesterday's 3-1 defeat at home to Sabah left them in eighth place of the eleven team group. Their fortunes seemed to mirror their senior side's performance in the Super League, which incidently also managed to just a single win and a draw so far this season.

Terengganu on the other hand recorded a 4-1 win over Pahang at the Darul Makmur Stadium in Kuantan to register their first win of the season. The victory saw them placed seventh in their group.

The tournament is effectively a reserve league championship for Malaysian League sides and all players are restricted to a certain age. These players also are eligible to represent their senior side without having to be registered in the senior squad.

However, the quality of football on show so far has not been at the best level in relation to their age.

Perhaps reverting back to the practice a few seasons back when a maximum of three senior players were allowed to play in President Cup matches. It could increase the quality of the play on the field and at the same time players who do not play regularly for the first team will have the opportunity to play competitive football in order to maintain their match fitness and sharpness.

This is being practiced in top leagues in Europe and the young players will benefit from playing with senior players who should lead by example in terms of technical ability and also leadership skills.

But the thing is in Malaysia or in this case in Terengganu, the pyramid of football is not really a pyramid at all with the lack of football played at the much lower age groups means children are not equipped with enough basic skills in football, thus when they progress through the age groups, we could always see improper control of the ball, lack of positional sense and making the wrong decisions.

With the number of schools in each districts there are enough to create a school league for the under-12s, under-15s and under-17s which could see these children playing football competitively during the weekends for six to eight months of the year.

During the week they would be training with proper coaches and with experience gained through match exposure they would be progressing well in relation to their age group, and by the time they are in their mid-teens we should be able to determine whether these players have the quality to succeed or not.

Furthermore, these matches will give ample opportunities for scouts to keep an eye on any talented players that show potentials to become good players in the future.

Of course this is only a wish of someone who does not have any authority to make these changes. His only wish is someone in authority share the same vision and together we could work to make this a reality.

Until then, we will just have to make do with the usual fare dished to us, just like the one on the 'C' Pitch yesterday.


...

Awards...

...Galore!

From a Ganuan perspective, the 100PLUS-SAM Awards 2010 was a disappointment when Dungun born Kierin cyclist, Azizulhasni Awang was pipped to the title of Best Athlete Award by diver Pandalela Rinong.

But putting state sentiment aside, it is good to see the Sarawakian diver's achievement during the year was recognised by those who should know who deserved the award the most, the nation's sportswriters.

The list of achievements by Pandalela who goes with the name 'Lulu Dolphin' in the world of Facebook are winning the first ever diving gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, beating Olympic medalists from Australia and Britain along the way in the 10m Platform event and later teaming up with Leong Mun Yee to win the silver medal in the Synchronised 10m Platform final.

Her maiden Asian Games outing was also laced with a silver lining with a silver medal in the Synchronised 10m Platform event while individually she managed to win the bronze medal.

Pandalela also performed well during the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore where she won two silver medals in the individual events of 3m Springboard and 10m Platform making her the first Malaysian to step on the podium in an International Olympic Council organised multi-event games.

Other sports-persons nominated for the award were squash queen, Nicol David; Lee Chong Wei the current world #1 ranked badminton player and shooter, Nur Suryani Taibi.

It is hoped Azizul who is rehabilitating from the recent track accident during the Track World Cup keirin final in Manchester will recover fully from his injury and bring more glory to Malaysia in the cycling world.

Other winners included Wushu exponent Yeap Wai Kin for Most Promising Athlete, Chong Wei who was awarded the Special Award from National Sports Association and the National football team, the Outdo Yourself Award for their winning outing in the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup Championship.

CONGRATULATIONS EVERYBODY!


NOTE: Info from Rizal Hashim's Loose Cannon


...

a Bit of Tries...

...and Conversions

mad redo1 was never a rugby player, perhaps due to his slight frame (it is true) when he was in school and college, and also the lack of speed over the distance required. But then again he also did not have the temperamental to cope with a rugby match.

But the most important reason of all perhaps he always give preference to football than any other sports, and that included rugby. However he always enjoy watching rugby than the almost similar but totally boring American Football or in his books, American Handball.

Thus it was a pleasure for him to watch two highly competitive rugby matches during the weekends courtesy of his SKPCT buddy, Zulkarnain Nawawi.

It was the semi-final weekends in the Terengganu Rugby Association 2011 League for the two divisions under their wings. The Division One semi-finals saw UiTM Vultures meeting UMT Stingrays on Friday while Sultan Sulaiman Old Boys (SSOB) Cobras and Kuala Terengganu Rugby Club (KTRC) lock horns the next day.

The Division Two last four qualifiers were Lembah Bidong Old Boys (LBOB) who took Terengganu Advanced Technical Institute (TATI) on Friday. The semi-final line-ups were completed by Ranaco Rugby Club and Dato' Razali Ismail Teaching College.

It is good to see the rugby culture are still alive and kicking but admittedly getting the competition going on annual basis is a credit to the association itself. Of course with a better financial backing the league could be bigger thus creating a larger pool of players to choose from to represent Terengganu.

Back to the semi-finals. On Friday mad redo1's alma mater team, The Vultures emerged victorious against The Stingrays with a score of 28-12 to qualify for the Division One final while LBOB marched to the Second Division final after trouncing TATI 27-8.

Then on Saturday a mouth-watering match up between the Cobras and KTRC promised an exciting affair and with a long history between the two sides there was an extra 'heat' added to the match as well.

But mad redo1's mate, Zulkarnain was an old hand in handling these kind of matches and his firm yet flexible way of dealing with hot moments during the match ensured it never get out of hand.

With the Cobras leading 14-12 towards the end of the match, KTRC players surprisingly opted to go for a drive to score a try when a penalty was awarded within range of the Cobras' goal. If they had opted to kick the penalty and successfully scored it would have given them a 15-14 victory. In the end it was a drive to nowhere and the Cobras secured their place in the final.

Prior to the match Ranaco mauled Dato' Razali Ismail Teaching College 47-0 in the second Division Two semi-final.

It was a weekend of scrums, rucks, line-outs and a few other terms and mad redo1 thoroughly enjoyed his time watching the matches.



...

Army Defeated...

...at Selayang.

Terengganu booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Malaysian FA Cup competition with a tight 3-2 scoreline against the Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM) at the Selayang Municipal Council Stadium in an afternoon kick-off yesterday.

Terengganu striker Abdul Hadi Yahya found the net for the sixth match in succession while a brace from Ashaari Shamsudin gave Terengganu two goal leads before ATM managed to reduce the score to just a single goal deficit on two occasions through Fatrurazi rozi and Yushaini Hafiz.

The current second placed team in the Premier League gave everything they got and perhaps boosted by the strong support from their ranks could have forced the Super League side into an extra thirty minutes of play.

However The Turtles held on to secure a meeting with Perak, who later that night defeated Sime Darby FC 3-0 at the Perak Stadium in Ipoh. It will be an interesting pairing with both are in good form, The Turtles are just a place below Perak in the Super League in third place and the 'Yob' outfit are still unbeaten this season together with league leaders, Kelantan.

The rest of the fixtures saw an upset in Paroi where holders Negeri Sembilan crashed out 4-2 on penalties to Kuala Lumpur after a goalless match. Another unexpected result was the defeat of the Canaries to Felda United with just a single goal separated the two sides after ninety minutes.

The rest of the favourites made it safely through to the last eight. Kelantan had to work hard at the JCorp Stadium in Pasir Gudang before winning by a solitary goal against Johor FC. Selangor defeated Harimau Muda 'B' 2-1 at the Shah Alam Stadium while at nearby MBPJ Stadium in Kelana Jaya Pahang won 3-1 against PKNS FC.

In a solitary match played the day before Johor booked their place at the expense of Ong Kim Swee's Harimau Muda 'A' team. Perhaps the defeat would not be so bad after all as it will give the boys who will travel to Lahore to face Pakistan on 9 March in the return leg of the 2012 Olympic qualifiers a bit of breathing space after a hectic fixtures since the beginning of the season.

The draw for the quarter-finals:
KUALA LUMPUR vs PAHANG
PERAK vs TERENGGANU
SELANGOR vs JOHOR
KELANTAN vs FELDA UNITED

The first leg is scheduled to be played on 15 March while the return leg on 19 March.

...

Non-Coverage...

...of The Coast.

It is quite disappointing when two of the nation's biggest cycling competition did not include Terengganu in their race routes. After having the opportunity to capture scenes from the 2010 le Tour de Langkawi from Kuala Terengganu to Kemaman and Putrajaya to Genting Highlands, mad redo1 was looking forward to get some shots of the competition again.

Unfortunately when the race map came out, the east coast was not even part of the race route at all.

But with Terengganu having it's own professional cycling team in Terengganu Pro-Asia Cycling Team (TCT), the state Menteri Besar Dato' Seri Ahmad Said already discussed the possibility of having east coast as part of the race route with the organiser. Hopefully the next edition will see Terengganu as part of the race once again.

Then another disappointment came when the route for 'Jelajah Malaysia' (Tour of Malaysia) was announced. It's six stages cover just four states: Johor, Pahang, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan. So much for the name 'Jelajah Malaysia'.

Of course there could be limitations that hinder the race organiser from covering the whole of Malaysia but as an avid sports photographer it left mad redo1 feeling extremely disappointed.

With the TCT taking part in both races, it is his high hope of being able to capture the team in action when they go through the stage involving Terengganu like in 2010. Unfortunately it was not meant to be.

Maybe mad redo1 should commit himself to cover for the whole duration of both tours in the future. Who knows?


...

Bees Swatted...

...by Turtles.

Terengganu recorded their third win in their 2011 Super League campaign after defeating Johor FC 3-0 at the Sultan Ismail Nasirudin Shah Stadium last night. The win lifted The Turtles to third in the table behind unbeaten leaders Kelantan and second placed Perak.

Irfan Bakti boys were straight into attack mode right from the start and their efforts paid off in the sixth minute when a long ball by Ismail Faruqi from inside his own area found forward Ashaari Shamsudin on the left.

He then made a low delivery into the box where striker Abdul Hadi Yahya had timed his run to perfection to slot in his fifth goal this season in all competitions. It was also the fifth match in a row the former T-Team striker scored for his new team.

Seven minutes later Ashaari was fouled on the left and referee Ku Alauddin Ku Muhammad awarded the home side a free-kick. Spotting Johor FC goalkeeper, Mohamad Anis Faron was quite far away from his goal, Terengganu midfielder Ismail Faruqi just lobbed the ball over his head.

The custodian perhaps was anticipating a cross rather than a shot, which left him stranded in no man's land.

Joseph who worked hard throughout the match saw a number of his shots saved or blocked by the visitors defence. The closest he came to scoring was in the 69th minute when he blocked an attempted clearance made by Anis. Much to the goalkeeper's relief it went just wide of his goal frame.

Terengganu continued to press with Ashaari and substitute Ahmad Nordin attempted their luck from distance.

Then in the 77th minute Joseph was once again fouled just outside the box. In a move from a training ground routine Terengganu defender Nik Zul Aziz Nawawi nearly scored his first goal for The Turtles but could not keep his shot down.

Two minutes later Terengganu had their third goal when Hadi found Saha at the edge of the box. The forward let fly and despite the attention from a Johor FC defender the ball flew in past Anis who clearly had a miserable time in Kuala Terengganu last night.

Nine minutes from time another Terengganu defender Helmi Remeli tried his luck from an acute angle, attempting to lob Anis from outside the box but he could not keep his shot down.

The Bees had lost their sting and the match was just played out with neither side able to breach each others' goal again.

Meanwhile at the MBPJ Stadium in Kelana Jaya, PBDKT T-Team (T-Team) could not build on their win over Perlis on Saturday when they succumbed to a 2-0 defeat against Felda United. Goals by Faderin Kadir and Bobby Chin were enough to condemn T-Team to their fourth defeat of the season.

Last night results saw Terengganu climbed back to third they occupied briefly on Friday, level on points with Selangor and Felda United but with better goal difference. T-Team meanwhile dropped back to the bottom two after Sabah managed to avoid defeat in their match against Pahang but it was Johor FC who occupied the place above T-Team.



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