Wins for T-Team, JDT 2 to Qualify for Malaysia Cup

After the disappointment of relegation to the Premier League on Wednesday, T-Team Titans pulled themselves together to qualify for the 2014 Malaysia Cup competition after winning their playoff match against Negeri Sembilan at the Shah Alam Stadium last night.

The 1-0 win over the team that finished sixth in the Premier League came courtesy of Mohamad Ramzul's strike three minutes from the break.

Joining the east coast club in the competition are the second Johor Darul Takzim (JDT 2) after the Premier League side defeated PKNS FC at the Selayang Stadium.

PKNS FC lost forward, Shahurain Abu Samah due to a red card in the 44th minute. The numerical advantage was immediately bore fruits for JDT 2 when Zaquan Adha scored.

Akmal Ishak doubled the advantage for JDT 2 in the 69th minute before Karlo Primorac pulled one back for PKNS FC three minutes later.

The two sides join the first Johor Darul Takzim (JDT), Selangor, Pahang, Terengganu, Sime Darby FC, Kelantan, Sarawak, Lions XII, Perak and ATM from the Super League while PDRM, Felda United, Pulau Pinang and Kedah from the Premier League.

The teams are seeded according to their respective league positions and the draw will see them grouped into four groups, playing on home and away basis with the group winners and runners-up qualifying to the quarter finals.

The competition is expected to begin right after the 'Aidil-Fitri celebrations.


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Harimau Malaya Get Dollah Salleh

The successes of Dollah Salleh in bringing titles to his teams for the past couple of seasons has caught the eye of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) when he was named as the new Malayan Tigers head coach.

He won the Malaysia Cup with Pahang last season and took the Royal Police (PDRM) to the Premier League title after leaving The Elephants at the start of this season.

The decision by the national body to appoint the 50 years old Dollah on a two year contract was seen as timely to fill the vacant position as the head coach of the Malayan Tigers after Dato' Rajagobal whose contract was not renewed.

Johor born Dollah pipped two other candidates shortlisted for the post, Germans Wolfgang Sidka and Gert Engels.

His immediate task is to prepare the national team for the 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup which is scheduled for November in Singapore and Vietnam.

FAM has line up a few friendly matches to help Dollah in preparing his team with Tajikistan (8 August), Singapore (September 6) and Jordan (October 11) have been confirmed as opponents. Another match is scheduled for November 18 but the opponent is yet to be confirmed.


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Titans Go Down

After escaping relegation last season on goal difference,  T-Team Titans could not pull it off this time and they are going to play in the Premier League in 2015 together with PKNS FC.

They needed to win their match against the Lions XII last night and with the home advantage Azraai Khor's men should at least get a draw and hoped results from other matches go their way.

However they failed to create enough chance against the visitors who had nothing to play for except for pride.

Missing Leandro Dos Santos from their line up The Titans struggled to create chances with just Patrich Wanggai working his socks off as his strike partner, Jimmy Mulisa spent most of the time running like a headless chicken.

The Titans' defence managed to hold most of The Lions attacks at bay but goalkeeper, Shahril Sa'ari was a bundle of nerves.

He began the second half with an improved performance but a quick counter-attack launched by his counterpart, Izwan Mahbud saw Muhammad Sufian through on goal.

Shahril went out from his area and in his attempt to prevent a goal brought down the Lions midfielder.

Referee Zohri Tajudin did not hesitate in flashing the red card to the goalkeeper, the first in his career. Wan Azrai was sent on to take Shahril's place with Muhammad Ramzul being sacrificed.

The sending off however seemed to motivate The Titans more and there were obvious injection of pace in their play but they just could not create the opening to get to The Lions goal.

Then in the 66th minute they were hit on the break with Khairul Amri setting up the ball for an unmarked Muhammad Faris to slot home past Azrai.

The home side came under more pressure after this and they were clearly unhappy with the Lions players who kept feigning injury to waste time.

In the end The Titans failed in their mission to win this match and when results from other matches came through they found out a draw would be sufficient as the Armed Forces (ATM) were held to a 1-1 draw by Sime Darby FC.

The defeat saw them finished the season level on points with ATM but The Gladiators better goal difference was enough to condemn The Titans to the Premier League next season.

Azraai Khor commented after the match they went down not due to result from this match alone but throughout the season when their performance in some matches deserved more but ended up with nothing.

He pointed out the draws against Perak and Sime Darby FC as examples for his statement.

Azraai stressed out the more important thing now is to motivate his players for the Malaysia Cup playoff against Negeri Sembilan on 28 June to determine whether their season would continue or end at this juncture.

Meanwhile in Kota Bahru, Terengganu staged a late comeback against Kelantan to register their first win over their East Coast rivals at the Sultan Mohamad IV Stadium in since 2012.

A brace from Abdul Manaf Mamat cancelled Fakri Saarani and Khairul Izuan strikes in the first half before Norfarhan Mohamad scored the winner against his former team towards the end of the match.

Elsewhere Johor Darul Takzim (JDT) won their first Super League title after winning their match against Sarawak 1-0 at the State Stadium in Kuching.

The big spending JDT proved that money can buy success with a star studded squad that should have sealed the title with ease.

The win in Kuching rendered the result between Selangor and relegated PKNS FC irrelevant.

In Ipoh, Perak ensured their survival in the Super League with a 3-0 win over FA Cup winners,  Pahang.

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Down to the Wire

The 2014 Malaysian Super League season is coming to an end with just one more round of matches to be played this season.

It is a two horse race to land the title as Super League champions with Selangor trailing league leaders Johor Darul Takzim (JDT) by just a single point.

The Manchester City of Malaysian football, JDT will have to overcome Sarawak in Kuching to secure their first ever league title while The Red Giants are looking to add to their six top tier title they have won prior to this season.

It will be another expensive failure to the team formerly known as Johor FC, if they fail to land the title after assembling a star studded team comprising of local and foreign internationals and former internationals.

Earlier in the season Malaysian football fans were treated to the skills of former Argentina playmaker, Juan Pablo Aimar but his stay in Johor Bahru did not last long as he failed to adapt to the local football scene.

However, JDT continued to climb the table after overcoming early season inconsistencies and a win at the State Stadium over Sarawak will see their fans rejoicing at their first league title.

Failure to do so would see the title coming into Selangor's hands with their fixture against relegated neighbour PKNS FC is widely considered as a mere formality for the three points at stake.

At the other end of the table, fans will have to wait until the end of the final whistle at three venues to know who will accompany PKNS FC in their journey down to the Premier League.

Currently, there are three teams facing the possibility of going down.

Last season champions, the Lions XII are by default would not be relegated if they lose their match against T-Team Titans in Kuala Terengganu which leave them with 25 points.

A win for the Titans meanwhile will see them collecting 27 points which should be enough to guarantee them 8th place. Thus it will depend on the result between Perak against Pahang in Ipoh and the ATM vs Sime Darby FC at Selayang.

Both Perak and ATM are now level on points with each amassing 23 points with the latter having a slightly better goal difference.

It is building up to one of the more exciting end to the Super League season in recent years with questions waiting to be answered on the final day of the season.


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Federal Territory are SUKMA 2014 Champions, Terengganu Second

The Federal Territory emerged as the SUKMA 2014 champions after amassing a total of 55 gold medals, just four ahead of Terengganu which once again had to settle for the runners up spot.

The east coast state which led the medal table for quite some time could not maintain their position in the final days of the meet.

The Federal Territory had athletes from Putrajaya and Labuan representing them alongside those from Kuala Lumpur.

Negeri Sembilan disc thrower, Muhammad Irfan Shamsuddin was named the Sportsman of the games after breaking the national record with a throw of 54.25 metres, bettering his previous best of 53.16 metres set at the 2013 SEA Games in Myanmar.

Jenilie Empera was the games Sportswoman after the Sarawakian weightlifter broke the SUKMA records in the Snatch and Clean & Jerk events in the above 75kg category.

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