CROWD TROUBLE AS TURTLES GO OUT ON AWAY GOALS

Terengganu fans ran amok last night after their team was knocked out by the Lions XII who despite losing the match 3-2 went through to the FA Cup final on away goals rule.

Having lost 2-1 in Singapore last week, Abdul Rahman Ibrahim's boys only needed to win 1-0 to win using the rule themselves but it did not happen according to plan.

Instead, the Lions were the one that managed to score first when Khairul Amri managed to win the ball in an aerial duel with Vincent Bikana before rounding Sharbinee Allawee and slotting the ball home.

With no more advantage to them, Terengganu players knew they have to attack. It paid off in the 22nd minute when Paolo Rangel beat Izwan Mahbud with a looping header from a good cross from Issey Nakajima.

Five minutes later the visitors restored their lead when Khairul Amri rasping drive went past Sharbinee after Bikana could only partially cleared a free-kick that was lobbed into the box.

It was a disaster for Terengganu and in order for them to go through they need to score three more goals. To make things harder, Nakajima had to go off when he suffered a recurrence of the injury that kept him out of the first leg.

As the match went into added time at the end of the first half Muhamad Safuwan fouled Rangel inside the penalty area and referee, Amirul Izwan immediately pointed to the spot.

Rangel picked himself up and Izwan Mahbud was beaten for the second time during the match. With the score at 2-2, the advantage was still with the Lions as the players trooped off to the dressing room at the end of the first half.

On the hour mark Terengganu got themselves closer to their mission after Norshahrul Idlan Talaha scored with an acrobatic kick. An initial attempt by Ahmad Nordin Alias was blocked by a Lion defender but Norshahrul reacted first to score his first goal for The Turtles.

At 3-2 Terengganu only needed one more goal to go through and the thirty thousand plus spectators were urging them on. However the Lions' defence stood firm.

Then as it entered the last few minutes of the match Terengganu forced a number of corners and from one of them they managed to get the ball into the net and the stadium erupted with joy.

However their joy was short-lived when the referee assistant raised his flag indicating that Ahmad Nordin who got the last touch of the ball was in an offside position.

The goal was not to be counted and during the following commotion, the referee flashed the red card to Rangel for behaving aggressively while protesting the decision.

A few minutes later, Gustavo Lopez followed his team-mate into the dressing room when he was shown a second yellow card for dissent and The Turtles' FA Cup dream was as good as over.

The fans then began to take their frustration on the police and the trouble lasted for more than five hours before the authorities managed to disperse the crowd.

SLIM ADVANTAGE TO THE LIONS

The Lions XII will take a slim advantage to Kuala Terengganu in a week time after they defeated the east coast side 2-1 in the first leg of the 2015 FA Cup semi-final at the Jalan Besar Stadium tonight.

Fandi Ahmad boys who thrived on the surface of the articial turf displayed their usual fast attacking football and tested Terengganu goalkeeper, Sharbinee Allawee on a number of occasions.

Gabriel Quok was the main threat for the home side, pulling the strings for the likes of Faris Ramli and Khairul Nizam.

It was the winger's free-kick that put Lions XII ahead in the 30th minute after the awkward bounce deceived Sharbinee and Khairul Nizam took full advantage by slotting the ball home.

Four minutes later they made it two when Faris made full use of his speed to get past the Terengganu defence after receiving a pass from Nazrul Nazari.

However, Gustavo Lopez free-kick in the 37th minute saw The Turtles scoring an important away goal that could turn out to be crucial when the team meet again in a week time.

The home side tied hard to add to their tally but Sharbinee played a blinder and kept out most of the attempts on his goal and on the few occasions he was beaten, lady luck smiled at him as the woodwork came to his rescue.

PRESENT MALAYSIAN LEAGUE FORMAT RETAINED FOR 2016

The Football Malaysia Limited Liability Partnership (FMLLP) the organiser of the Malaysian League beginning in season 2016 announced that the number of teams participating in the top two tiers will remain unchanged.

Thus both the Super League and the Premier League will see twelve teams playing each other twice in a round robin format.

Chief Executive Officer of the FMLLP, Kevin Ramalinggam said additional teams will see the fixtures will be more congested.

The FMLLP will be the one responsible to oversee the running of the Malaysian League through another body called The League Congress which will also be responsible to uphold the league policies.

The League Congress will see the Malaysian League teams as partners, the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) as the managing partner while FMLLP will act as special partner.

PAHANG GO TOP

Pahang continued their fine form with another win last night against Perak.

The 1-0 win was Pahang was their fourth in succession and saw them climbed to the top of the Super League, two points clear of The Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) and Johor Darul Takzim (JDT).

Matian Conti scored the all important goal via a spot kick in the 72nd minute.

The penalty came after the referee had spotted a handball offence in the penalty area as Pahang striker, Dickson Nwaekame tried to square the ball to his team-mates.

It was Perak first away defeat this season and the defeat saw them dropped to fifth place, the spot previously occupied by The Elephants.