Terengganu Struggle

Terengganu struggled to overcome bottom team Kuala Lumpur but in the end did just enough to collect all three points as they continue seeking a place in next season AFC Cup tournament.

The 2-1 win came courtesy of Francis Doe's brace, one in each half. Terengganu midfielder Abdul Shukur Jusoh was guilty of squandering two good chances and was a face relieved when celebrating his team-mate's strikes.

Kuala Lumpur equalised through their foreign player, Okine Emmanuel who scored from the penalty spot after Terengganu defender, Muhaimin Omar had fouled a Kuala Lumpur player inside the box.

Faiz Subri notched his fourth goal in as many matches to help his team PBDKT T-Team to a 1-0 win over Sarawak at the State Stadium in Kuching. It was the club side first win in six matches to bring much relief to Head Coach, Yunus Alif.

Kelantan took a big step in retaining their Super League title with a hard fought 3-2 away win over Negeri Sembilan. However they have to come from a goal down when Firdaus Azizul gave the home side the lead just before the first quarter of an hour of the match gone.

Former Terengganu player, Azlan Ismail restored parity when he reacted quickly to a loose ball after Indra Putra Mahyuddin shot from a Norfarhan Muhammad's corner was blocked on the goal-line.

Indra also had a hand in the goal to give his team the lead in the 63rd minute when his pass released Mohammad Ghaddar who managed to stay onside. The Lebanese maintained his cool to beat Farizal Marlias though the goalkeeper could have done a bit better.

Then six minutes later the favour was returned when Ghaddar spotted Indra making his run into the box and played and early ball for the former Malaysian player to tap in from close range.

Shukor Adan then reduced the deficit with four minutes remaining when he managed to steal into the box unmarked to head home a S.Kunanlan corner past Khairul Fahmi Che Mat and his defenders.

However, Kelantan held on till the end and now only needed just one more win from three matches to ensure the Super League title will remain in Kota Bharu for another season.

Meanwhile Selangor and Perak found their ambition to play in the AFC Cup next season coming under serious threat when both of them failed to get a win in their respective matches yesterday.

Bosko Balaban's free-kick gave Selangor the lead in the 63rd minute. The Red Giants then were just two minutes away from taking all three points when a quick attack saw Abdulfatah Safi breaking down on the right.

Despite the attention from a Selangor defender he managed to send a low cross into the box where Kyril Muhymeen was arriving to tap the ball past the helpless Norazlan Razali.

Perak meanwhile failed to use their home advantage when they succumbed to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of PKNS FC. Johor FC meanwhile furthered themselves from the relegation zone with a 2-1 win over Sabah, a result which saw the Sabahawks dropping back into the bottom two.


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Double Despair

Both Terengganu teams lost their Super League matches last night with Felda United inflicted PBDKT T-Team's tenth defeat of the season with a 1-0 win in Kuala Terengganu while Kedah continued to be Terengganu bogey team as they came from behind to win 2-1 in Alor Setar.

Yong Kwong Yong scored the only goal as The Settlers' registered only their second away win of the season.

Up north of the peninsular, defender Muslim Ahmad scored for the second consecutive match with another glancing header, this time from a corner. The third minute goal seemed to wake the home side up and they began dominating the match.

Khyril Muhymeen equalised after twenty minutes when he finished a good cross by Baddrol Bakhtiar from the left after the Terengganu defenders were fooled by a dummy sold another Kedah attacker.

Both teams created chances as they looked for the winner. Ashaari Shamsuddin's volley in the 61st minute went just inches wide of the Kedah goal.

Then The Canaries found their winner in the 69th minute when they broke quickly and as the Terengganu players tried to regroup, Baddrol unleashed a powerful volley that left Sharmiza Yusoff rooted to his spot.

The win ensured Kedah kept up their chance of survival from the relegation zone as their closest rival Sabah also collected three more points thanks to their 4-2 over Kuala Lumpur in Melaka.

Sarawak inflicted Johor FC first defeat in four matches when they won 3-1 at The State Stadium in Kuching.  A twelve minute spell in the second half saw The Crocs leading by three goal with Yosri Dermaraju, Guy Bwelye and Zamri Morshidi putting their names on the score-sheet.

Haris Safwan Kamal replied for The Bees as they found themselves being hauled back towards the relegation zone.

At the MBPJ Stadium in Kelana Jaya, the home side PKNS FC also staged a successful comeback when two goals by Mohamad Fazli saw them collecting all three points at the expense of Negeri Sembilan who had gone ahead through a strike by Ahmad Shakir.

In a match played on Friday, Kelantan went to the top of the Super League table after they recorded a 1-0 victory over Selangor in a match that had it's heated moments between the two sets of players.

Lebanese striker, Mohamed Ghaddar scored the only goal of the match. Unfortunately despite being a hero to the Kelantan team he is also the maître provocateur as his actions led to two Selangor players losing their head.

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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