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.
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