Canaries Caged...

...in kT.

PBDKT T-Team snapped their win-less run of four matches with a 3-1 win over Kedah in Kuala Terengganu last night. Ironically, the win came after the Kuala Terengganu club gave their Head Coach, Yunus Alif a temporary leave of absence as the result of the inconsistent performance by the team.

Meanwhile at the Likas Stadium, Terengganu came back from falling a goal behind against host, Sabah to win their encounter against the Rhinos 2-1. The win kept The Turtles in second place which mean the could become the Super League leaders if they win their encounter against current leader, Selangor on Friday.

At The Sultan Ismail Nasirudin, caretaker coach, Shafie Pak could not wish for a better start for his tenure when Indra Putra Mahyuddin fired the home side ahead just after three minutes with a wonderful volley from a cross by Haris Safwan Kamal.

However, both teams could not display a commanding performance and the match became a dull affair with chances came at a premium. Then from almost out of nothing, Kedah equalised.

A long ball out of defence found Baddrol Bakhtiar on the left. He easily shrugged off the challenge from Subri Sulong and then tricked Syamsuri Mustafa with his body movement before slotting the ball into the empty net.

The second half was no different. Both teams struggled to find their rhythm. Then with ten minutes to go, a group of supporter raised a banner asking the sacking of the head coach and the team management to be reshuffled.

Coincidently, at this moment T-Team began to seize control of the match. After a number of attempts finally substitute Shamsul Kamal restored his team lead when his stiff shot from the right squirmed from Helmi Eliza's grasp and rolled over the goal-line. the goalkeeper must be wishing the ground to open up and swallow him at the moment.

Then three minutes into stoppage time, experienced midfielder Zairo Anuar who already saw Helmi saving his attempts during the match, gave the goalkeeper no chance with a first time shot from 20 metres after being set up by Indra Putra.

It was a welcome relief for t-team who could consolidate their form with another win over Pahang on Saturday on the same venue.

Meanwhile in Kota Kinabalu, Terengganu goalkeeper, Sharbinee Allawee must be sharing the same feeling with Helmi when his mistake led to the opening goal for Sabah. The custodian failed to deal properly with a long shot by Shahrul Azhar Ture and could only watch as the ball went to the back of the net.

However, Sharbinee who has been in fine form all season should not feel bad as even the best goalkeeper in the world also commit an error every now and then.

The home fans who were hoping to get all three points from the match had their hopes dashed when Terengganu striker, Abdul Hadi Yahya equalised with a simple finish after a team-mate had brought the ball under control from a cross inside the penalty area.

It was his six goals in as many matches, equalling the record he made earlier this season. Abdul Hadi now has thirteen goals to his name in all competitions this season. Then substitute Wan Aliff Jasmi who put up a good performance when he came on against Perak on Saturday made himself a hero to all Ganuans last night.

When Abdul Hadi broke on the left, Wan Aliff made a run into the box. He arrived just a head of his marker to tap in the ball into the empty net after his team-mate had beaten Sabah goalkeeper, Syed Adney with a low ball.

Then a moment of controversy came when an attempt by a Sabah player hit the hand of a Terengganu player inside the penalty box. However the referee deemed it was a case of 'ball to hand' rather than the other way around.

It was enough to cause the Sabah fans in the stands to show their displeasure but in the end The Turtles held on for the precious three points in order to keep up their title challenge for this season.





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