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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