Dull Affair...

...in kT

As expected, Kelantan returned to the top of the Super League table after their 2-0 win over Kuala Lumpur in Kota Bahru. This meant Terengganu are now in third place, a point adrift from The Stags and The Red Giants. It is still a long way to go and during this hectic period which only ends at the end of May, so many things could happen.

In order for The Turtles to keep up in the title race is to play good football but many would not mind getting results by playing 'ugly' football. But playing ugly football and NOT getting the right result would only mean fans are going to desert you en masse, such as the one on display when PBDKT T-Team took on Pahang last night.

The match, like the one between Terengganu and Selangor the night before was televised 'live' by Astro Arena. Unfortunately, it was not anything like the previous match with stray passes galore between the two sets of players. Chances, once again were at a premium.

The closest anyone getting the ball into the net was when T-Team's topscorer, Indra Putra Mahyudin smacked his shot against the bar from a corner, with the Pahang goalkeeper, Rosfaizul Azuar was already beaten.

The crowd were really getting on the back of T-Team striker, Haris Safwan who became the brunt of the blame for the team's poor performance. Perhaps it a was a spell that he was going through when everything he does just would not come off right. This time he lasted just until the interval, when he was replaced by Shamsul Kamal Mohamad.

T-Team dropped to ninth in the table while Pahang remained in tenth.



...

Great Comeback...

...in Kuantan

It is very rare for mad redo1 to be able to cover away matches for either Terengganu or PBDKT T-Team as they would be playing on the same night, alternating home and away fixtures between the two teams. Thus most of the time mad redo1 will be covering the one playing at home.

Thus when the Pahang versus Terengganu fixture was re-arranged to be on different nights, mad redo1 grabbed the opportunity straight away to follow the Turtles to Kuantan.

With the two teams are scheduled to meet in the FA Cup semi-final in the middle of May, this match is seen as some sort of a dress rehearsal to that encounter.

Terengganu which salvaged a point against Negeri Sembilan in Paroi on Saturday after going behind to an early goal, found themselves in a similar situation at the Darul Makmur. A mazy run inside the box by from the right led to a goal for the home side scored by Fazli Baharudin just after four minutes.

After the goal, it was almost all Terengganu but a combination of good goalkeeping and wayward shooting by Terengganu players kept Pahang in the lead. Towards the end of the first half, Ashaari Shamsudin managed to put the ball into the Pahang net but his effort was ruled offside.

The Malaysian international continued his hard work and as the match was about to enter stoppage time found Abdul Manaf Mamat with a deft pass. The striker who scored the equaliser against Negeri Sembilan on Saturday put the ball past Pahang goalkeeper, Suffian Abdul Rahman, sending Terengganu fans in the stands into raptures.

The two teams went to the dressing rooms at the interval on level terms. The score did not last long. Just ten minutes into the second half, Ismail Faruqi floated a cross from the right and without breaking a stride, Ashaari connected with it using the outside of his left foot.

It was a breathtaking strike worthy of the 'Goal of the Season' award (seriously, this award has to be created soon) and one that would linger on the memory of Terengganu fans for a long time.

Terengganu continued to dominate but could not convert their dominance into goals as chance after chance went a-begging.

The situation was not ideal for the Terengganu fans as they feared Pahang could snatch a late equaliser which could bring the morale of the Terengganu players down. Fortunately, skipper Marzuki Yusof and his partner, Hasmizan Kamarodin marshalled the defence well to keep Pahang players at bay.

The Turtles climbed into fourth place, level on points with Felda United but with a slightly better goal difference.

For mad redo1 it was a worthwhile trip to Kuantan.




...

Turtles Through...

...to the Last Four

Having done a good job in Ipoh last Tuesday, Terengganu completed the turn-around against Perak at the Sultan Ismail Nasirudin Shah Stadium last night with a 3-1 win. Goals from Reeshafiq Alwi, abdul Manaf Mamat and Abdul Hadi Yahya ensured The Turtles date with Pahang in the last four in May.

However, the match was in danger of being not played at all when circuit problems caused the floodlights to fail a number of times. However match officials decided to give it a go and the match went underway, albeit a few minutes off the scheduled kick-off time.

The home side made their intention clear from the start with Joseph Kalang Tie fired in a free kick from the right which was cleared in the second minute. Then his fellow Sarawakian Reeshafiq Alwi saw his shot from outside the box blocked by the Perak defence.

However, as the match entered its sixth minute, the light went out again much to the dismay of thousands of fans that throng the old stadium. The stadium was lit only by the light from the 'Supermoon' that made its once in 29 years appearance that night.

The likelihood of the match being postponed and played the next day was high. It could be a disaster for the home team. Fortunately, the match officials, much to their credit decided to give it another go when the lights was restored, perhaps thinking of a postponement would bring much anger to the fans.

Terengganu continued where they left prior to the blackout. The Perak defence had to be alert to stop a shot from Hadi and a minute later Ashaari Shamsudin broke through on the lft before squaring the ball to Manaf who could not direct his shot on target.

Perak continued to hold strongly while launching several attacks on their own but the Terengganu defence, led by skipper Marzuki Yusof who missed the first leg through injury was up to the task in quelling the visitors' attacks.

Goalkeeper Nasril Nourdin denied Hadi a goalscoring chance when he was quick enough to dive at the striker's feet after he was put through into the box in the 32nd minute.

Then six minutes before the interval Joseph Kalang delivered an inch perfect cross from the right and Reeshafiq stole between two Perak defenders to direct it past Nasril for the goal that put The Turtles in the driving seat.

They could go through on away goals rule if the score stayed the same till the end of the match. But Terengganu continued to press and with Perak having to attack to ensure their survival in the competition, they could exploit any gaps in the visitors' defence.

The sky opened up just when the match was about to end for the interval. The fans were soaked wet by the downpour but that did not dampen their support and the players responded well by continuing to press Perak, hitting the bar in the process.

Then six minutes after the restart Terengganu went ahead for the first time in the tie when Manaf blasted the ball from outside the penalty box and it went in at Nasril's near post. Terengganu were 4-3 ahead on aggregate.

The goal led to a spirited fightback by Perak who forced a succession of free-kicks around the Terengganu penalty area. Fortunately for the home fans the defence stood firm and goalkeeper Sharbinee Allawee was alert enough to palm away a curling effort which was going on target.

However he could do nothing when fifteen minutes from time Perak striker, Akmal Rizal Ahmad Rakhli levelled the aggregate score when his powerful shot from another free-kick hit the back of the net, despite Sharbinee managed to put a hand to it.

Terengganu still had the away goal advantage but they could not afford to just sit back and defend as another goal by Perak would knock them out from the competition. Joseph Kalang proved to be the torn in Perak's flesh all night with his tireless running and passing.

With just over ten minutes to go his pass put Hadi through and the striker shrugged off the challenge from two Perak defenders before stroking the ball past the diving Nasril, The Turtles were ahead again and they only needed to hold on for the remainder of the match.

For his effort throughout the match Joseph Kalang should have a goal to his name but it was not to be. He managed to create a chance for himself but could not keep his shot down.

With just a minute to go a stupid action by a section of the home fans saw the referee, Nagor Amir Noor Mohamad stopped the match. An object that was thrown by a fan had hit the referee assistant and this could see Terengganu being fined heavily by FAM.

More seriously, the match could be stopped which would be detrimental to Terengganu's cause.

Again, the referee decided to go on with the match after a while. There were four minutes of added minutes and during which Manaf and Ashaari tried their luck from afar but could not find the back of the net.

The four minutes went slowly for Terengganu fans but in the end the players prevailed and managed to hold on to the 3-1 scoreline as Perak tried their best to force extra-time with another goal.

Terengganu will play Pahang in an all east coast affair in the last four. The Elephants were held to a scoreless draw by Kuala Lumpur on Friday to advance on a 2-1 aggregate. The other semi-final will feature Selangor and Kelantan who overcame Johor and Felda United respectively with identical 5-2 aggregate victory.

RESULTS:

Pahang 0 Kuala Lumpur 0 (Pahang won 2-1 on aggregate)
Terengganu 3 Perak 1 (Terengganu won 5-4 on aggregate)
Johor 1 Selangor 2 (Selangor won 5-2 on aggregate)
Felda United 0 Kelantan 3 (Kelantan won 5-2 on aggregate)

2011 FA CUP SEMI-FINALS

Pahang vs Terengganu
Selangor vs Kelantan

The semi-finals are scheduled for 13 and 16 of May 2011.

...

Good Job...

...in Ipoh

It was not the best of results but it was not the worst either. Terengganu lost the first leg of their FA Cup quarter-final tie against Perak 3-2 at the Perak Stadium last night. The home side took the lead going into the fifteenth minute of play through Isma Alif Mohamad Salim but Terengganu striker, Abdul Manaf Mamat restored parity five minutes before the interval.

The match was evenly balanced for most of the second half but a three minutes spell eleven minutes from time saw Perak sitting comfortably in front with goals from Mohamad Fazrul Hazli Mohamad Kadri (79th) and Akmal Rizal Mohamad Rakhli (83rd) gave the home fans the feel good feeling for the second leg on Saturday.

However, Terengganu midfielder Reeshafiq Alwi's 90th minute strike reduced the gap to just a single goal, which meant The Turtles only need a single goal victory in Kuala Terengganu to go through to the last four of the competition.

Many Terengganu fans are feeling confident that their team will be able to do the necessary when the second leg starts this Saturday.

In other matches, Super League leaders Kelantan and Felda United battled to a 2-2 draw in Kota Bahru with goals coming from Zamri Chin and Liew Kit Kong for The Settlers while skipper Badri Radzi and Norshahrul Idlan Talaha scored for the home side as Kelantan failed to win for the second successive time.

The two sides will meet again on the same venue on Saturday for the second leg as the KLFA Stadium is still unavailable for football matches.

Another side which had to play their home match away from home was Kuala Lumpur. The City Boys 'entertained' Pahang at the Darul Makmur Stadium but fell behind when Amirul Ashraf Sayuti scored for the 'visitors' after half an hour.

Kuala Lumpur equalised through Ahmad Azlan Zainal ten minutes after the break but Pahang took a huge advantage for their home tie this Saturday when Azamuddin Akil netted their second in the 64th minute.

In the only tie involving team from the Premier League, Super League champions Selangor easily defeated Johor 3-1 at the Shah Alam Stadium. Hardi Jaafar, Rudie Ramli and Amri Yahyah found the back of the Johor net as the Red Giants looked like strolling to the last four.

However Mohamad Alif Mohamad Yusof pulled one back for the southerners to give them a glimmer of hope for the second leg tie in Johor Bahru.

RESULTS:

FA CUP QUARTER-FINALS, FIRST LEG

KUALA LUMPUR 1 vs PAHANG 2
PERAK 3 vs TERENGGANU 2
SELANGOR 3 vs JOHOR 1
KELANTAN 2 vs FELDA UNITED 2


...

Canaries Pecked Turtles...

...Again!

Terengganu suffered their second defeat of the season when Kedah staged a comeback at the Darul Aman Stadium in Alor Setar on Saturday night. Midfielder Reeshafiq Alwi opened his goal account for The Turtles after half an hour of play with a stunning volley from outside the penalty box.

However, Terengganu who playing without the injured skipper Marzuki Yusof in defence could not contain the home side attack and two quick goals from Khyrel Muhymeen and former Turtle, Firdaus Faudzi in a four minutes spell in the 64th and 67th minutes brought back the cheers to the home side, whose team was under the supervision of Radhi Mat Din for the first time after Ahmad Yusof was given his 'leave'.

In Kuala Terengganu, PBDKT T-Team and Perak could not lift themselves to find the rhythm to display good football in front of the home crowd, which totalled to less than a thousand, perhaps influenced by the rain that has been coming down for the past few days.

In a dour match, unbeaten Perak were let down by their poor finishing. Their best chance came midway through the first half when their striker, having beaten goalkeeper, Syamsuri Mustafa could only send the ball into the side-netting.

The best chance for T-Team came towards the end of the first half during an a spell which saw they dominated the match, striker Haris Safwan's effort was cleared off the line by the Perak defence.

In the end, both teams had to settle for a nil-nil scoreline.

Terengganu and Perak dropped to fifth and fourth respectively in the Super League table after this round of fixtures. Kedah climbed to eighth while T-Team remained second from bottom of the table.

On the night which saw leaders Kelantan's unbeaten record came to an end in Kuantan, it was a big opportunity for Perak take the lead at the top of the table. However, as it turned out Kelantan remained at the top of the pile but now they were joined by last season Premier League champions, Felda United and defending Super League champions, Selangor on fourteen points.

Pahang registered their third win to climb to sixth, even though for many it was rather unexpected against the high riding Stags. Negeri Sembilan's season turned for the worse after their home defeat against Selangor, which would turn more heat on coach Wan Jamak.

Johor FC and Kuala Lumpur played to a scoreless draw the day before and the match between Sabah and Harimau Muda 'A' was postponed due to unplayable pitch even though there were reports of the match being awarded to the Young Tigers.

...

Wasted...

...Youth

It is good to see many football fans in Terengganu are still willing to lend the support to the two Terengganu teams competing in the 2011 President Cup tournament. However this season saw both teams are in the bottom half of their respective group's standings.

PBDKT T-Team (T-Team) are in Group A while Terengganu are in Group B.

The former only managed a single win from four outings and yesterday's 3-1 defeat at home to Sabah left them in eighth place of the eleven team group. Their fortunes seemed to mirror their senior side's performance in the Super League, which incidently also managed to just a single win and a draw so far this season.

Terengganu on the other hand recorded a 4-1 win over Pahang at the Darul Makmur Stadium in Kuantan to register their first win of the season. The victory saw them placed seventh in their group.

The tournament is effectively a reserve league championship for Malaysian League sides and all players are restricted to a certain age. These players also are eligible to represent their senior side without having to be registered in the senior squad.

However, the quality of football on show so far has not been at the best level in relation to their age.

Perhaps reverting back to the practice a few seasons back when a maximum of three senior players were allowed to play in President Cup matches. It could increase the quality of the play on the field and at the same time players who do not play regularly for the first team will have the opportunity to play competitive football in order to maintain their match fitness and sharpness.

This is being practiced in top leagues in Europe and the young players will benefit from playing with senior players who should lead by example in terms of technical ability and also leadership skills.

But the thing is in Malaysia or in this case in Terengganu, the pyramid of football is not really a pyramid at all with the lack of football played at the much lower age groups means children are not equipped with enough basic skills in football, thus when they progress through the age groups, we could always see improper control of the ball, lack of positional sense and making the wrong decisions.

With the number of schools in each districts there are enough to create a school league for the under-12s, under-15s and under-17s which could see these children playing football competitively during the weekends for six to eight months of the year.

During the week they would be training with proper coaches and with experience gained through match exposure they would be progressing well in relation to their age group, and by the time they are in their mid-teens we should be able to determine whether these players have the quality to succeed or not.

Furthermore, these matches will give ample opportunities for scouts to keep an eye on any talented players that show potentials to become good players in the future.

Of course this is only a wish of someone who does not have any authority to make these changes. His only wish is someone in authority share the same vision and together we could work to make this a reality.

Until then, we will just have to make do with the usual fare dished to us, just like the one on the 'C' Pitch yesterday.


...

Army Defeated...

...at Selayang.

Terengganu booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Malaysian FA Cup competition with a tight 3-2 scoreline against the Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM) at the Selayang Municipal Council Stadium in an afternoon kick-off yesterday.

Terengganu striker Abdul Hadi Yahya found the net for the sixth match in succession while a brace from Ashaari Shamsudin gave Terengganu two goal leads before ATM managed to reduce the score to just a single goal deficit on two occasions through Fatrurazi rozi and Yushaini Hafiz.

The current second placed team in the Premier League gave everything they got and perhaps boosted by the strong support from their ranks could have forced the Super League side into an extra thirty minutes of play.

However The Turtles held on to secure a meeting with Perak, who later that night defeated Sime Darby FC 3-0 at the Perak Stadium in Ipoh. It will be an interesting pairing with both are in good form, The Turtles are just a place below Perak in the Super League in third place and the 'Yob' outfit are still unbeaten this season together with league leaders, Kelantan.

The rest of the fixtures saw an upset in Paroi where holders Negeri Sembilan crashed out 4-2 on penalties to Kuala Lumpur after a goalless match. Another unexpected result was the defeat of the Canaries to Felda United with just a single goal separated the two sides after ninety minutes.

The rest of the favourites made it safely through to the last eight. Kelantan had to work hard at the JCorp Stadium in Pasir Gudang before winning by a solitary goal against Johor FC. Selangor defeated Harimau Muda 'B' 2-1 at the Shah Alam Stadium while at nearby MBPJ Stadium in Kelana Jaya Pahang won 3-1 against PKNS FC.

In a solitary match played the day before Johor booked their place at the expense of Ong Kim Swee's Harimau Muda 'A' team. Perhaps the defeat would not be so bad after all as it will give the boys who will travel to Lahore to face Pakistan on 9 March in the return leg of the 2012 Olympic qualifiers a bit of breathing space after a hectic fixtures since the beginning of the season.

The draw for the quarter-finals:
KUALA LUMPUR vs PAHANG
PERAK vs TERENGGANU
SELANGOR vs JOHOR
KELANTAN vs FELDA UNITED

The first leg is scheduled to be played on 15 March while the return leg on 19 March.

...

Dual Defeats...

...for Ganuans.

The fourth round of matches in the 2011 Malaysian Super League (MSL) saw both teams from Terengganu suffered away defeats. Terengganu surrendered their unbeaten record at the Shah Alam Stadium where they went down fighting 3-2 against a Selangor side playing their first match without striker, Safee Salee who had joined Indonesian club Pelita Jaya.

While it was Terengganu first defeat of the season, PBDKT T-Team (T-Team)'s 1-0 defeat to Pahang at the Darul Makmur Stadium in Kuantan saw their losing run continued. It is now three defeats out of four, with just a point on board from the opening day goalless draw against Kedah in Alor Setar.

The defeat left Terengganu and T-Team at eighth and thirteenth place respectively in the MSL.

T-Team coach, Yunus Alif must be feeling the pressure after still winless going into their fourth match against Pahang. His assembly of star and vastly experienced players still could not conjure up the magic that many Ganu football fans are expecting after big names such Indra Putra Mahyudin, Norfarhan Mohamad, Zairo Anuar and a few others signed for them in the close season.

Many were expecting they would be able to register their first win with Pahang just a place above them prior to the match. But T-Team were a bit slow in getting their game on and just after three minutes they were already a goal down. Zaiza Zainal Abidin tapped in from close range after a free-kick from Azamudin Akil fell kindly for him.

Tried as they might T-Team just could not find a way to bulge the home side net with the closest coming from an effort by Indra whose attempt rocked the frame of the goal but went out of play. In the end, the defeat was more due to unfortunate circumstances rather than lack of effort by the players.

Terengganu meanwhile found themselves three goals down after just under an hour of play, the reverse of the situation when they were playing Perlis on Friday in Kangar. A wonderful half volley by Fazlli Shaari in the 17th minute broke the deadlock after a one-two with Hardi Jaafar had created the opening for the former KL PLUS FC player.


Then a minute into the second half Selangor were two goals in-front when Fazli turned provider this time, supplying the ball for his skipper Amri Yahyah to connect with a looping header thet left Terengganu goalkeeper Sharbinee Allawee grasping air.

Photo by Jeroe

During last season Malaysia Cup campaign, Azidan Sarudin scored for his team Kuala Lumpur from a long distance free-kick against Terengganu in Kuala Terengganu to give his team a 1-0 win.The former Kuala Lumpur skipper repeated the feat against the Turtles but this time around from an open play situation. His long shot slipped past the unsighted Sharbinee who saw the ball too little too late.

Then Terengganu began their fightback when Hadi was fouled inside the box and Malaysian international, Ashaari Shamsudin dispatched the ball past Iqbal Suhaimi in the Selangor goal. Despite trying very hard The Turtles only managed to reduce the deficit just by one more goal when Hadi slipped in unnoticed at the far post to turn Ashaari low ball into the Red Giants goal with three minutes to go.

Even though they tried very hard Terengganu just could not find their way past Iqbal again and found themselves beaten for the first time this season.

...