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An impressive Terengganu side brushed aside treble winners Kedah 3-1 at the Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Stadium this evening. Goals from Brazillian striker Gleisson Frere and midfielder Zairo Anuar Zalani who nocthed a brace were enough to overcome the shock of conceding an early goal to the visitors.

Kedah in their all green strip kicked off and threatened the Terengganu goal early on but goalkeeper Mohd Sharbinee Allawee managed to keep them out. His counter-part in the Kedah goal Mohd Helmi Eliza Alias was forced to make two good saves in quick succession as Terengganu began to found their rhythm.

Then in the ninth minute Kedah scored when a quick one-two caught the home defence square, thus letting Marlon Alex James to burst through. He squared the ball to the middle for the rushing young midfielder Badrol Bakhtiar to divert the ball into the open goal.

In the twelfth minute Gleisson broke through on the left but saw his effort hit the side netting. Six minutes later he went one better after receiving a deflected pass past the Kedah defence from Mohd Nor Farhan Mohamad, the Brazilian beat Eliza to ball and this time his effort crossed the line on the right side of the post for his first goal for The Turtles.

The equaliser injected more life into the match. However, in the 23^rd minute, a hesitant Sharbini nearly resulting in Kedah restoring their lead which would definitely see the crowd turning against the team. Two minutes later Dos Anjos saw his effort from outside the box went just wide of the Kedah goal. Skipper Marzuki Yusof, who was performing well with Brazilian Fabio Flor de Azevedo, committed a mistake in the 27^th minute but Malon James failed to capitalised on it as he balloned his shot over the bar.

Gleisson was putting the Kedah defence under pressure throughout the match. Just after the half hour mark they have to be very alert to prevent a good cross from the right from reaching the towering Brazilian. Kedah then conceded a free-kick just outside their penalty box and Zairo forced Eliza to make an impressive save from his effort. It was a warning to the young custodian of things to come. From the resultant corner, Gleisson failed to hit the target despite being unchallenged by the Kedah defence.

As Kedah tried to mount a sustained pressure on Terengganu, the home side hit them with a quick conter-attack which saw Gleisson broke through. The Kedah defence brought him down as he was about to enter the box. The crowd was incensed and was expecting to see the red card but much to their disappointment only the yellow one was flashed by the referee. Zairo’s free-kick took a heavy deflection on the Kedah defensive wall and completely wrong footed Eliza. Terengganu 2-1 to the good.

The Turtles continued to press forward and seemed able to breach the visitors defence at will. Dos Andos continued to impress with his work-rate and close control and could have given Terengganu the lead twice before the break but Eliza denied him on both occassions. The players went off the pitch at half-time with the crowd applauding them for a good first half performance.

It was the same story after the break. Terengganu remained in control but committed a few errors from time to time which luckily were not capitalised by Kedah players. In the 52^nd minute Gleisson put Dos Andos through. He took on two Kedah defenders but the midfielder chose to shift the ball to his left foot thus giving the Kedah defence enough time to recover and blocked his shot.

Five minutes later, Kedah reminded the home side they are not home and dry yet. A fast cross from the right took everybody out but found the head of a diving Khairil Muhymeen coming from the blind side who put his effort on the wrong side of Sharbinee’s goal-post. Dos Andos became the most fouled player on the pitch. Another foul on the hour mark deserve a yellow card but there was none coming from the referee. It was another opportunity for Zairo to unleash one of his specials.

With the Kedah defence pre-occupied with the towering presence of Gleisson and other supporting Terengganu players, Zairo took the free-kick which caught Eliza by surprise. The goalkeeper managed to get his hands to the ball but Zairo’s effort had enough power to carry it over the line. The stadium erupted with joy.

Two minutes later a Kedah mistake at the back found the ball being pumped high into the air. Both Gleisson and Eliza went for it. There was minimal contact but the referee was being generous to the visitors and awarded a free-kick in the goalkeeper’s favour. Unfortunately Eliza did not let the matter rest and tried to take matters into his own hand. Thus began the period where every play was laced with certain aggression in it on both sides. Terengganu continued to deny Kedah space and time on the ball.

In the 68^th minute a good shot from Ashaari Shamsudin was too hot for Eliza to handle. The loose ball was collected by Abdul Manaf Mamat but he lacked the composure to finish the job properly, ending with the ball being hooked above the bar.

The play was from end to end with chances being created. Sharbinee had a close call in the 78^th minute when he came out but was beaten to the ball by James that failed to convert to the goal. Luck was with Eliza again after he brought down a Terengganu player inside the box after the latter had push the ball away from him. Terengganu players surrounded the match official who seemed lost for most of the time during the match.

Dos Anjos then stole behind the Kedah defence in the 83^rd minute and squared the ball to Gleisson. This time Eliza managed to deny the Brazilian from getting his second goal of the night. Two minutes later Dos Anjos himself was denied by the impressive Eliza.

Sharbinee meanwhile had to thank one of his defender, Mohaimi for clearing on the goal-line after he was beaten on the left by a Hasmawi Hassan’s effort. Then in 90^th minute, Sharbinee denied substitute Karamsak with a good take at the near post.

A scuffle broke out during added time. Zairo nearly turned from hero to zero after a bit of provocation from Saramsak who was flashed with the  yellow card by the referee for his effort. Substitute Rosairil Asrul could have made Kedah’s journey back to Alor Setar even sadder but his effort in the dying seconds went just inches wide.

Terengganu moved above Kedah into the top three of the Super League after the win. Next, The Turtles will travel to Kangar to meet Perlis who just above them in second place on goal difference after the Northern Lions away win over the Royal Malaysian Police.