Stalemate in Kuala Terengganu, Again

Terengganu put a brake on their neighbour's march towards their second consecutive Super League title when they staged another comeback to hold The Stags to a 2-2 draw at The Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Stadium, Kuala Terengganu.

However, the visitors went ahead just after six minutes when former Terengganu player, Norfarhan Muhammad struck against his former team with a stiff left foot shot past the unsighted Terengganu goalkeeper, Sharmiza Yusoff.

Things got worse for the goalkeeper who was playing due to an injury to Sharbinee Allawee when he misjudged the flight of the ball from a Badhri Radzi's free-kick, allowing the ball to go past him in the 21st minute.

However five minutes from the interval, Ismail Faruqi found Francis Doe with a reverse pass and the Liberian delivered a cross into the box which somehow arrived at Abdul Hadi Yahya's feet despite the attention from two Kelantan defenders.

Last season topscorer made no mistake with a shot that went into the top corner of Khairul Fahmi's goal. The Turtles continued their revival in the second half.

Just five minutes after the restart Terengganu found themselves level when a glancing header by defender, Muslim Ahmad left Khairul Fahmi rooted. It was a precise delivery by midfielder, Ismail Faruqi from a dead ball situation that opened the chance for Muslim.

Both teams continued to create chances but the score remained until the final whistle. The point saw the gap at the top reduced to just two points with Kelantan have three matches in hand over the Lions XII.

Perak remained in third spot after a 3-2 win over PBDKT T-Team. Faiz Subri opened the scoring for the visitors with a long range strike after nineteen minutes.

However goals from Muhamad Nazri, Mohamad Failee and Albert Dominique cheered the home fans. However, they have to endure a nervous ending when another long range effort from Faiz went past the goalkeeper to reduce the gap. However, the visitors could not find another goal to level the score.

Selangor kept up the pace with Perak with a 1-0 win over neighbour, PKNS FC courtesy of skipper's Amri Yahyah's goal as the match was going into the break.

Johor FC's climb from the relegation zone continue with another win. Last night The Bees registered a 1-0 win over bottom side Kuala Lumpur. Khairul Ismail's well executed free-kick gave them their third consecutive win.

Two other struggling teams met head on last night in a relegation six pointer match. Sabah won 1-0 against fellow strugglers, Kedah in Kota Kinabalu with Jeffrey Omopor strike in the 53rd minute ensured The Sabahawks collected all three points and replaced The Canaries in twelfth place.

In Melaka, The Crocs registered only their fourth away win of the season with a 1-0 victory over Felda United. 


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Stalemate in Kuala Terengganu

PBDKT T-Team halted a run of two successive defeats after holding Negeri Sembilan to a 1-1 draw at the Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Stadium in Kuala Terengganu.

After a dull first half, the match exploded into life in the second. Negeri Sembilan topscorer, Effa Owona latched onto a long pass from the middle before unleashing an unstoppable shot past T-Team goalkeeper, Syamsuri Mustafa.

However, the lead did not last long when T-Team's substitute, Badrul Hisani found Faiz Subri in the box with a long pass. The forward first touch was good to set himself up with a goalscoring opportunity. The former Perlis player did not waste it with a firm shot past Farizal Marlias.

The result saw both teams remained at the place they occupied before the match with T-Team occupying seventh spot while Negeri Sembilan were in fifth place.

Terengganu also did not move from their sixth place when they played to a 2-2 draw at the MBPJ Stadium against PKNS FC. Shukur Jusoh gave The Turtles the lead after just three minutes with a superb strike from outside the box after the home defence only managed to partially clear the ball from a corner.

However, PKNS levelled the score through another set-piece when Faudzan Zulkifli headed home from a corner. They went ahead when Terengganu defender, Faizal Muhammad was adjudged to have fouled Faudzan in the box.

Daud Nicoise made no mistake from the penalty spot. The lead was maintained throughout the second half and PKNS looked good for all three points but a minute from time they conceded a corner.

A good delivery by Ismail Faruqi found the head of Ashaari Shamsuddin and his back-header crept past the PKNS defence at the near post to spoil the night for their former Head Coach, Abdul Rahman Ibrahim.

Kelantan reduced the gap at the top of the Super League table between them and Lions XII to just three points with a 2-0 win over Sabah in Kota Bahru. Goals from Rizal Fahmi and Indra Putra Mahyuddin condemned Sabah to their ninth defeat of the season.

Perak took full advantage of Selangor in-activity when they recorded a 2-1 win over Sarawak at The State Stadium to climb into third spot. Kedah moved out from the bottom two with a 2-1 win over bottom team, Kuala Lumpur with Sabah taking their place.

Johor FC continued their revival with a 1-0 win over Felda United.


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Costly Substitution

Terengganu lost in the Super League for the first time at their Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Stadium when a late strike by Lions XII substitute, Suffian Anuar separated the two sides.

The match was heading towards a goalless stalemate when Terengganu made a strange substitution, taking off Muhaimin Omar and replacing him with Mohamad Humaidie.

The reason for it being strange was due to another left-back, Hariri Safii was available and it is very rare to use a high profile match like this to send a youngster for his debut. The fact that Humaidie was not at all featured in the last few President Cup matches was another factor that should be taken into consideration.

True enough, it was from Humaidie's side that The Lions' found their path towards The Turtles' goal. In the end Terengganu should only blame themselves for the defeat which saw them dropping to sixth place in the Super League table.

To complete a bad night for Terengganu football fans, PBDKT T-Team were thrashed 5-0 by Selangor at the Shah Alam Stadium. It was their biggest defeat of the season. Irfan Bakti's men remained in third. They were joined by Perak on 33 points after The Caribao won 2-1 against Felda United in Ipoh.

Kelantan maintained their pressure on the Lions with a hard fought 1-0 victory over Kuala Lumpur at The Hang Jebat Stadium, Melaka. Negeri Sembilan climbed into fifth after a 3-1 win over Sarawak in Seremban.

Sabah suffered a big setback in their fight against relegation after losing 4-0 at home to PKNS FC. They now dropped to third from bottom after another relegation threatened side, Johor FC registered a 2-1 over strugglers, Kedah in Pasir Gudang.

Young Tigers Win

Malaysia defeated Qatar 2-0 in an U-22 international friendly at the Shah Alam Stadium this afternoon. The win would boost the morale of Ong Kim Swee's boys ahead of the Asian U-22 Championship qualifiers in Myanmar which will start on June 23.

Malaysia captain, Irfan Fazail broke the deadlock in the 26th minute with a wonderfully struck free-kick which gave Qatar goalkeeper, Muhammad Naim Hussien no chance at all.

Photo by Helmi Dawi | Dunia Sukan Online

However, the match turned sour five minutes before the interval when a hard tackle by Abdelkarim Hassan on Mohamad Azrif Nasrulhaq led to Malaysian midfielder, Nazmi Faiz Mansor to losing his cool and struck the Qatari.

Referee Nagor Amir Noor Mohamad showed no hesitation to flash the red card to Nazmi as well as Abdelkarim who retaliated after Nazmi's red mist action.

Despite being reduced to ten men for the rest of the match, both teams showed eagerness to come forward. However, it was the home fans who celebrated when the Young Tigers scored again in the 68th minute.

After his initial effort were blocked by the wall, Sabah striker, Mohamad Rozaimi Abdul Rahman picked up the loose ball and blasted it past the goalkeeper who could do nothing to prevent it from going in.

Malaysia defence then held on for the rest of the match, giving Terengganu born goalkeeper, Izhan Tarmizi a clean sheet.


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Terengganu Win Turtle Derby

Terengganu climbed to third place in the Malaysian Super League after registering their first win in seven matches when they defeated PBDKT T-Team 3-0 in the season's second Turtle derby at the Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Stadium last night.

Two goals in the first half from returning striker, Abdul Manaf Mamat saw the 'away' side firmly in control of proceedings at the end of the first forty five minutes.

The first goal came in the 27th minute when Abdul Hadi Yahya found Manaf with a lovely through ball and despite being pressured by Norfazly Alias, the striker managed to slot the ball home past goalkeeper, Iqbal Suhaimi.

Then with three minutes of the half remaining, Hadi broke through on the left and after shaking off Bojan Petric squared the ball. Manaf who was sandwiched between Shahrul Ezrain and Norfazly somehow managed to to get a touch to prod the ball over the line.

T-Team dominated more in the second half but did not really create any clear cut chance to reduce the deficit. To make matter worse they fell to a sucker punch blow when Terengganu increased their lead towards the end.

After lending a hand in the opening two goals, Hadi this time found the net himself after finishing a quick counter attack initiated by defender, Muslim Ahmad who made a run from his own penalty area before finding Hadi with a simple pass.

Terengganu named an all Malaysian starting eleven with Francis Doe was reportedly still away on international duty with his nation, Liberia who will play Namibia in an African Cup of Nations qualifying match.

The Turtles other foreign player, Baiano only came on in the second half while T-Team were also without the service of their Brazilian playmaker, Marco Tulio who was out injured.

It was a good win and also a good start to Peter Butler's reign as Terengganu Head Coach and would boost the confidence of his charges as they entertain the Lions XII on Tuesday.

Meanwhile T-Team coach, Yunus Alif must inspire his lads in order for them to get a good result when they travel to Shah Alam to take on Selangor, also on Tuesday.


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