Losing Streak...

...Halted

PBDKT T-Team halted their losing streak of three consecutive matches last night with a 2-0 win over Super League leaders, Perak at the Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Stadium in Kuala Terengganu. The result saw The Buffaloes relinquishing their position to Kelantan who defeated Terengganu 2-1 in the 'East Coast Derby' played at the Sultan Mohamad IV Stadium in Kota Bharu.

T-Team who had done away with the service of the under-performing Zachariah Simukonda started aggressively in front of a few hundred spectators who decided to come to the stadium instead of watching the 'live' telecast of the 'East Coast Derby'.

Perak did not offer much in their play. Most of the time they would fire long balls into the opponent's area, trying to find the tall Lazar Popovic who would bring his team-mates into play with the second ball. They were also seen relying on Michal Kubala to produce his long distance shooting in order to breach the T-Team defence.

The home side seemed comfortable in neutralizing these threats with Bojan Petric being commanding in defence with Norfazly Alias. After a scoreless first half, it took only eleven minutes for the stale-mate to be broken.

T-Team forced a series of corners and from of of these set-pieces saw Petric heading home from close range after the initial header by Faiz Subri was blocked on the line by a Perak player. It was the Bosnian first competitive goal in Malaysia.

Perak should have been more aggressive after going a goal down but their lack of creativity proved to be their downfall. Then two minutes from time, referee Suhaizi Shukri awarded a rather soft penalty to T-Team after Perak defender, Muhamad Shahrom was jusdged to have brought down T-Team substitute, Khairul Izwan inside the penalty area.

Skipper Zairo Anuar Zalani stepped up and had no problem beating Nasril Nourdin to score his seventh goal of the season, keeping him on top of the goal-scorers' charts. His team meanwhile climbed one spot to sixth.

Meanwhile in Kota Bharu, the home fans had to wait until the 37th minute before seeing their team going ahead. Even then Norshahrul Idlan Talaha's goal had a large slice of luck going with it as his shot was going away from goal until it hit Terengganu skipper Mazuki Yusof in the abdomen and went into the net, with Sharbinee Allawee already committed.

Then in the 52nd minute The Stags went two goals ahead went a quick counter-attack saw the ball being delivered into the penalty area where Indra Putra Mahyuddin headed the cross into the path of his skipper, Badhri Radzi who had the simple task of heading the ball into the net.

The Turtles tried to stage a fightback but could only score as the match went into stoppage time when Ashaari Shamsuddin's side-footed effort went in off the bar, spoiling Khairul Fahmi's effort to keep a clean sheet against the 'Old Enemy'.

At the Jalan Besar Stadium in Singapore, Lions XII went up to fourth after defeating Negeri Sembilan 3-1. Two goals by their skipper, Shahril Ishak in the 31st and 60th minutes sandwiched Shahdan Sulaiman's strike in the 50th minute. Mohamad Firdaus Azizul replied for The Deers in the 90th minute.

Perhaps the night's biggest upset was Selangor 2-0 loss against PKNS FC at the MBPJ Stadium in Kelana Jaya. It was The Red Giants' second defeat of the season while goals from former Selangor player, Rudie Ramlie on the half hour mark and Helmi Remeli on the hour mark saw the club side registering their first win of the season.

In Kuching, Sarawak used their home advantage to beat Felda United 2-1. It was The Crocs second win of the season. Goals from Vedran Muratovic and Asri Chuchu won them the match despite Firdaus Faudzi reducing the deficit for The Settlers.

Home advantage did not come into the picture when Kuala Lumpur took on Kedah at the Hang Jebat Stadium in Melaka. The City Boys remained the only team without a win this season when Johor FC beat them 2-0. Former T-team striker, Haris Safwan Kamal opened his account for The Bees in the sixth minute before Jasazrin Jamaluddin confirmed all three points seven minutes from time.

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