Another Comeback...

...by The Turtles.

Terengganu made a strong second half comeback to win 3-1 after falling behind against bottom team, Perlis in their 2011 Super League match at the Sultan Ismail Nasirudin Shah last night. It seemed the incident of falling behind is becoming a trade-mark for The Turtles who already made eight positive comebacks from their 17 league matches so far.

They also have made late rallies in their away defeats to Selangor and Perak (FA Cup) while against Kedah they were unlucky not coming away with a more positive result.

Against Perlis, Head Coach, Irfan Bakti chose to field Mazlizam Mohamad and Ronny Harun while resting influential skipper, Marzuki Yusof. It was quite a strange decision by the experienced coach as he was already without regular, Hasmizan Kamarodin who was given an extended leave to be with his wife for the delivery of their child.

Thus it was not really a surprise when the new partnership failed to gel effectively which led to The Northern Lions scoring their goal by Nik Shahrul Hanizam when he capitalised on a defensive mix-up. Instead of introducing Marzuki, it was Abdul Manaf Mamat who was sent on in place of the beleaguered Ahmad Nordin Alias.

It was perhaps a tactical reshuffle as from the line-up, it was more like a 4-5-1 formation with Abdul Hadi Yahya playing as a lone striker. Introducing Abdul Manaf changed the formation to the more familiar 4-4-2 formation again.

However, it was the lack of sharpness of the Terengganu players that saw them playing below par as quite a number of passes went astray despite having a lion share of possession. This prompted uncivilized fans to hurl abuse at the players when they should be giving them encouragement to try harder.

These fans might as well stay away as their presence merely provoke stress to the players who were trying their best under conditions which were not helping them to consistently give their best in every match. The Perlis match was their tenth match in thirty days.

Irfan Bakti's attempt to rotate his squad seemed to backfire which gave credence to his statement that his squad does not have adequate strength in depth to give his players enough rest between matches.

Fortunately his striker Abdul Manaf who was in the midst of a dry spell in front of goal found his scoring touch back with a brace in the second half, sandwiching a strike by another player who have not found the back of the net in the last six matches, Ashaari Shamsudin.

Abdul Manaf first strike came nine minutes into the second half when he latched onto a through pass and finished the move with a low shot that left Perlis goalkeeper, Amini Ahmad Tabarani helpless. Then in the 68th minute Ashaari darted on a solo run past several Perlis defenders which ended with him beating Amini with another low shot.

Then in the 76th minute Abdul Hadi Yahya broke in from the right and sent in a low ball. Abdul Manaf anticipation was spot on as he connected with it to beat Amini at his near post. It could have been four and a ht-trick for Abdul Manaf but his wonderful header from a cross by Reeshafiq Alwi was ruled off-side by the referee assistant.

The win maintained Terengganu pressure on the two teams at the top of the 2011 Super League table. Kelantan won 1-0 at Johor FC while Selangor overcame Kuala Lumpur in Cheras with a 3-1 scoreline.



...

Poor, Poor...

...Perlis.

Kelantan moved into second place in the 2011 Malaysian Super League when they completed a double over Perlis at the Sultan Mohamad IV Stadium last night. The 4-0 win came after the two sides had met in Kangar on Tuesday where The Northern Lions were humiliated 5-1 by The Stags.

The win saw Kelantan reduced the deficit to league leaders Selangor to just two points. In view of the Red Giants trip to Sabah tonight it is a good way to put a little pressure on K Devan's boys ahead of their match against the Rhinos, who so far have been on good form at home.

Terengganu and Perak who shared the points in Ipoh on Tuesday are also hoping for a win to keep up with the leaders. The Turtles will retake second place if they win tonight, a result which will leave the Buffaloes further behind in the title race.

When the two sides met in the FA Cup quarter-finals last month, Terengganu won the match 3-1 to overturn the first leg deficit and qualify for the last four where they will be meeting Pahang next month. A similar result will see the home fans going home happy tonight.

Meanwhile another Terengganu team, PBDKT T-Team which travel to Pasir Gudang to meet Johor FC will be hoping to record their first win in three matches. Their resurrection which saw them beating Kelantan and Selangor earlier this month seemed to have petered out since losing the 'Turtle' derby against Terengganu which followed by the easy defeat at Kuala Lumpur.

A draw will be a good result against The Bees at their hive but a win will certainly be a bonus for this long trip down south by Yunus Alif's boys.



...

'Blitzkrieg'...

...in Kuala Terengganu.

Two quick goals by PBDKT T-Team (T-Team) early in their match against Perlis were enough to see off the challenge from the young Northern Lions side which prior to the match shared the unenviable record with the home side of being the only teams without a win this season.

It was a relegation six pointer despite being played so early in the season with both coaches knew it was vital for their team to win. T-Team Head Coach Yunus Alif had outlined his battle plan during an interview that his team could not afford to let the young Perlis players to settle in the match.

Thus he encouraged his team to press hard early on and three minutes into the match it paid off. Experienced forward, Indra Putra Mahyudin found himself with a bit of space inside the box and unleashed a low shot which Perlis goalkeeper, Hairol Fazreen did well to parry but Khairul Izwan Khalid was on hand to tuck in the loose ball.

The former Felda United player was playing tonight due to the sudden illness that befallen Haris Safwan Kamal, T-Team topscorer last season.

Then seven minutes later Indra also had his hand in T-Team's second goal. Again the forward was allowed too much space and his shot came off the post. Midfielder Badrul Hisani was smart enough to anticipate and managed to get ahead of Perlis defender Mohamad Fazly Baharum and diverted the loose ball into the empty net for his first goal of the season and also his first for his new team.

Then after a quarter of an hour gone Perlis were handed a lifeline when referee Mohamad Yusof Mat Karim adjudged T-Team defender Azizi Mat Rose to have handled the ball inside the box and awarded the away team a penalty.

However Mohamad Faiz Subri failed to hit the target with his effort.

The match seemed to peter out after that. T-Team midfielder Tengku Hasbullah Raja Hasan was presented with a one on one opportunity with the goalkeeper but was denied by the young custodian. A minute later Mohamad Norfarhan failed to connect with a corner after he was left unmarked at the far post.

Then as the match was reaching the hour mark, T-Team were awarded a free-kick. Skipper Rosdi Talib delivered the ball into the box where Khairul Izwan connected well to head home his side third goal.

The rest of the match saw T-Team tried hard to increase their goal tally but in the end had to settle for the 3-0 scoreline, which marked their first win of the season, a point where many of their fans were hoping they would kick-start their 2011 Super League campaign in earnest.

...

Northern Lions...

...Slayed!

Terengganu registered their first win in the 2011 Super League campaign with a comfortable 3-1 victory over bottom team, Perlis at the Utama Stadium, Kangar last night. First half goals from Abdul Hadi Yahya and Ashari Shamsudin gave The Turtles the lead at the interval before Abdul Manaf Mamat converted a penalty in the second period, making it 3-0 for Irfan Bakti's men in white.

A wonderful strike by Mohamad Hafizuan Salehudin with around twenty minutes to go gave the home fans something to shout about, praying rather than expecting a fightback was on the cards for their young team. It turned out to be just a consolation for Perlis, which still looking for their first win of the season after three matches.

Terengganu made their intention clear from the start that they came to Kangar looking for their first win of the season and while the Perlis side had youth on their side it was their inexperience that the visitors intended to exploit.

Joseph Kalang and Hadi came close several times for Terengganu before they eventually broke the deadlock. Ironically it came after Perlis had their best chance of the match, rocking Sharbinee Allawee's bar from a free-kick.

In the 23rd minute a pass from Zharif Hasna found Joseph inside the box. The Sarawakian played the ball short to Manaf who turned it towards goal. It was going wide until Hadi popped up at the far post to open his goal account for the new season and also for his new team after his close season switch from PBDKT T-Team.

Before the Perlis players could regroup they found themselves two goals behind when Joseph played a long ball from inside his own half to Ashari. His deft touch took the ball past the goalkeeper and from an acute angle slotted the ball home despite some desperate defending by the home defence.

Towards the end of the first half Perlis began to find some rhythm and tested Sharbinee in quick succession but the Terengganu defence stood firm. Instead it was the visitors who looked likke adding to the tally before the break with Ashari seeing his free-kick which was going in at the top corner before the goalkeeper intervention.

Another free-kick saw a scramble inside the Perlis penalty area before it fell to Terengganu skipper Marzuki Yusof who hit it on the volley. The goalkeeper was completely beaten but it landed on the wrong side of the bar.

The second half saw the same story continued with Terengganu maintaining control of the proceedings. However it was Perlis who were the early aggressor when the match resumed. unfortunately they could not find a way past the Terenganu defence.

The Turtles were three goals to the good when during a quick counter-attack by Terengganu saw Ashari being fouled inside the penalty area. Manaf who was making his first start for the season took the responsibility from the spot and duly converted the chance for his first goal of the season.

However Perlis continued to fight, which was a piece of good news to their coach, Mustaqim Omar. Then in the 68th minute they got their reward when a flowing move saw the ball reached Hafizuan who unleashed a shot from outside the box. It went in at the top corner with Sharbinee completely beaten.

It should be nominated for 'Goal of the Season' award.

Perlis tried to press for more goals but they were caught several times when Terengganu managed to launch quick counter-attacks. During one such move Ashari and the goalkeeper collided. During the confusion Hafizuan threw the ball at the referee, and having received a yellow card during the penalty incident earlier, the second one meant he had to go off.

With ten men there was no way back for Perlis and Terengganu coasted for their first win of the season. the win propelled Terengganu to second spot of the Malaysian Super League table, for twenty four hours at least before the rest take the field on Saturday.

...