Turtles Advance!

Terengganu reached a new high in their history tonight when they reached the second round of the AFC Cup 2012 competition after a 6-2 demolition of Vietnamese champions, Song Lam Nghe An at the Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Stadium, Kuala Terengganu.

Francis Doe scored his second hat-trick for The Turtles to take his tally to 15 goals in all competitions. Ashaari Shamsuddin opened the scoring while Abdul Hadi Yahya and Joseph Kalang Tie also found their names on the scoresheet as Terengganu fans look forward to the second leg of the FA Cup semi-final match against Sime Darby on Tuesday with more optimism.


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Terengganu Overcome Negeri Sembilan

It was one of their better performance this season but Terengganu needed an own goal by S Kunanlan to ensure they would get all three points from their Super League clash with Negeri Sembilan at the Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah last night.

They dominated the proceedings but could not find their way with their front-line not hitting the target. Leading goalscorer, Francis Doe continue his goal drought and last night was his 7th match since he last scored his last three goals against Sabah on 17 March.

Other players were equally guilty of missing chances with midfielder Shukur Jusoh wasting at least three good chances to score for his team. 

However the display from the whole team left the fans satisfied with every player showing their determination and worked hard for every ball. It was a totally different Terengganu team last night compared to the one that took the field against Tampines Rovers in the AFC Cup match on Tuesday.

Ashaari Shamsuddin was almost his old self again with his runs causing problems to the visitors' defence. In fact it was from his run that resulted in Kunanlan putting the ball into his own net when the winger's attempt to clear the low cross saw it spun off his boot into the goal.

The win maintained Terengganu position in third place and with other teams also dropping points meant it was a good night for The Turtles. Their local rivals, PBDKT T-Team did them a huge favour by holding Kelantan to a 1-1 draw in Kota Bharu. Azwan Roya put the home side ahead in the first half but Khairul Izwan equalised with his third goal of the season.

The draw reduced the gap between Terengganu and The Stags to just four points but at the same time denied Kelantan to make the most of the Lions XII defeat to PKNS FC at the MBPJ Stadium in Kelana Jaya. A goal from Mickael Nicoise from a set piece was enough to condemn The Lions to their third defeat of the season.

Kelantan trail them by five points but have three matches in hand.

Selangor who trounced Terengganu 6-1 last week failed to reproduce the same display as they needed a late Bosko Balaban goal to level the score against Johor FC at Pasir Gudang. The Bees were looking good for their first home win of the season when they held on to Riduan Maon strike in the first half. But Irfan Bakti's boys pushed on and were rewarded by Balaban's equaliser.

Sabah failed to use their home advantage again when they suffered a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Perak. As it was in their match against Selangor when The Sabahawks took the lead, Zainizam Marjan nudged his team ahead with a strike almost right from the kick-off.

However, Akhmal Rizal equalised for The Buffaloes midway through the second half before Mafry Balang put one past his own goalkeeper to gift the lead to Perak. Lazar Popovic then scored his first goal of the season in the last minute of the match to ensure a comfortable ending for his team.

Meanwhile in the battle at the foot of The Super League table, Felda United thrashed Kuala Lumpur 4-0 for their fourth win of the season. The victory saw The Settlers moving out of the relegation play-off zone but the fight to avoid the drop is still very much on their mind as only one point separates them, Sabah, Johor FC and Kedah.

Kuala Lumpur meanwhile remained rooted at the bottom of the table and looked destined for relegation with  just a point all season.

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Turtles Pounced on The Stags

It was another fruitful journey to the south of the Malay Peninsular for Terengganu as they registered their second victory in the AFC Cup with a 1-0 win over the S-League Champions, Tampines Rovers. The win cemented their place behind Group F leaders, Kitchee SC who defeated Vietnamese Champions, Song Lam Nghe An 2-0 in Hong Kong.

Photo by: Ko Po Hui of Bolasepako.com

Joseph Kalang Tie continued his scoring streak against Singaporean sides when he made the most of the confusion in the home side defence to slot the ball into the empty net with Rover goalkeeper, Sasa Dreven stranded at the top of his penalty area in the fourth minute.

However it was his Terengganu counterpart, Sharbinee Allawee who turned out to be the busier of the two goalkeepers. He kept The Turtles in the match with a string of fine stops especially the double saves to deny Ahmad Latiff from levelling the score in the first half.

Brazillian midfielder, Baiano nearly put Terengganu two goals to the good in the second half with an accurate long range shot which Dreven palmed away to safety. The Stags thought they have equalised when a looping header by Ahmad Fahmie was on its way into the Terengganu goal until Sharbinee pushed the ball over the bar for a fruitless corner.

Dreven was once again called into action to stop a shot from Ashaari Shamsuddin as the forward found space in the Rovers' defence to unleash a shot. Then another misunderstanding between Dreven and his defender nearly gifted another goal to Terengganu but Ashaari could not get enough power behind his shot and was cleared away by a defender.

Veteran Rovers striker, Alexandr Duric was kept quiet throughout the match by Terengganu defender, Muhammad Faizal who was assigned the task to man-mark him all the time. In the end, The Turtles slowed down the match and saw it out with another clean sheet for 'Man of the Match', Sharbinee Allawee.

In another Group F match, former Fulham defender Zesh Rehman scored in the 11th minute to give his side, Kitchee the lead against SLNA at the Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground. Chu Siu Kei then increased the lead in the 73rd minute to maintain the Hong Kong League Champions perfect record in the competition.

Kitchee lead the table with nine points while Terengganu are in second place with six. Both Tampines Rovers and SLNA only have a single point so far in their campaign.

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Bogey Team Held Turtles

A depleted Terengganu side failed to find their way past a defensive Johor FC and thus had to settle for a point from their Super League encounter at the Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Stadium last night. The goalless draw meant Kelantan and the Lions XII were able to widen the gap between themselves and the Turtles.

Kelantan thrashed hapless Felda United 5-1 at the Sultan Mohamad IV Stadium in Kota Bharu while the Lions defeated PBDKT T-Team 2-1 at the Jalan Besar Stadium in Singapore. There are now a five point gap between The Turtles and the league leaders, Kelantan.

Terengganu were without the service of their topscorer, Francis Doe who was serving a one match suspension following his three cautions this season. In his place was last season Super League topscorer, Abdul Hadi Yahya.

Apart from Doe, Terengganu were also deprived of the service of Abdul Manaf Mamat who was nursing an ankle injury. Joseph Kalang Tie was also suffering from a toe injury but was named as one of the substitutes. In his place was Shamsul Kamal who only returned from an injury himself.

As expected, it was the home side which dominated the proceedings. Shamsul managed to get the ball in the back of the net when Johor FC goalkeeper, Anis Faron failed to hold the ball but a questionable decision by the linesman robbed the former T-Team player of his first goal for the Turtles.

The Turtles managed to find the net again in the second half but this time the effort by Mazlizam Mohamad was correctly ruled off as the player was in an offside position when he collected the loose ball following a free-kick.

The introduction oh Joseph Kalang Tie in the second half also could not help Terengganu finding their way past the Johor FC defence and in the end it was a disappointed night for The Turtles and their fans who now have gone through two matches without a win and a goal.

At the Jalan Besar Stadium, Zairo Anuar Zalani notched his tenth goal of the season in all competitions with a fine strike to bring things level in the 54th minutes after the Lions have gone ahead through a fine run and cool finish by Shahril Ishak three minutes earlier.

The Lions' skipper then missed a penalty when a foul was committed in the box by Mohamad Dzaidin on Madhu Mohana. The visitors were looking good for a point until Norfazly Alias committed another foul inside the penalty box. This time on Agu Casmir.

Following Shahril earlier substitution, Shahdan Sulaiman stepped up to the plate and sent Mohamad Iqbal the wrong way as the Lions collected all three points to keep up with the leaders, Kelantan.

The Stags were on the rampage following their 5-1 demolition of Felda United in Kota Bharu. Onyekachi Nwoha's brace sandwiched Azrul Ahmad's equalizer for The Settlers but further strikes in the second half from Norfarhan Muhammad, Indra Putra Mahyuddin and Bahdri Radzi saw the home fans going home in jubilant mood.

Sarawak notched only their second away win of the season but a 4-1 thrashing of draw specialist, PKNS FC would give them the confident to do better in the second round of matches in the Super League. Shahrul Saperi opened the scoring with Vedran Muratinovic also getting on the scoring act while Ashri Chuchu scored a brace. Mohamad Khairu Azrin replied for the Selangor club side.

In Kota Kinabalu, Selangor found themselves trailing to Sabah after a Michael Baird's strike put the Hawks in front. Unfortunately the home side failed to hold on to the lead as the Red Giants scored the equaliser through P Gunalan.

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