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Terengganu 1 Mohamad Norfarhan 62
NS Naza 0

Terengganu will take a slim one goal lead to Seremban after NorFarhan Mohamad’s goal midway through the second half became the only difference between The Turtles and visitors NS Naza in this FA Cup second round first leg tie.

In truth, Terengganu should have taken a bigger lead going to the second leg on March 27 if not for the lack of finishing touch in front of goal and the excellent performance by the NS Naza goalkeeper. Neither team were able to really assert control in the first half though it was Terengganu which had the better chances.

The match started brightly for the NS Naza which managed to force a free-kick as early as the first minute but Mohd Sharbinee Allawee was hardly troubled by Lamin Conteh’s effort. The lack of urgency in the way Terengganu was playing started to get on the nerves of the fans who managed to fill nearly three quarters of the Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Stadium.

Ashaari Shamsuddin had a couple of good chances in the 27^th and 31^st minutes. The first one was when NS Naza defender failed to clear the ball properly and the ball fell to Ashaari who failed to hit the target. Then a good one-two with Gleisson Friere presented him with an open goal but he took too much time on the ball, enabling a defender to block his shot.

Ashaari turned provider in the 37^th minute when he beat NS Naza right-back and delivered a low cross into the box which Brazilian Jocian Bento Dos Anjos failed to connect with at the near post. The loose ball eventually found its way to Farhan who skied his shot. Ashaari’s good first touch enabled him to break through again three minutes from the interval but his poor delivery this time saw the ball hitting the side-netting.

The teams trooped off to the dressing room with the score 0-0.

Whatever transpired in the dressing room during the break certainly worked in the second half. Terengganu broke on the left again and a good delivery saw the ball reaching Farhan who headed the ball across the goal. Ashaari brought the ball under his control and found himself with just the goalkeeper to beat. However, much to the disappointment of the home fans, the man with the gloves came on top this time with a good block.

NS Naza also came close but most of their attempts were made from long range which hardly troubled Sharbinee at all.

Dos Anjos was brought down at the edge of the penalty area but Zairo Anwar Zailani’s attempt to curl the ball inside the far post failed. Then in 54^th minute Farhan was put through with just the goalkeeper to beat but he failed to do so and then put the rebound wide under pressure from a NS Naza defender.

Terengganu really took control of the proceedings. In the 56^th minute Zairo found himself with the ball on the right, spotted Gleisson making a run into the box. His long pass was accurate and the Brazillian chested down the ball well to bring it under control. The striker chose for power instead of accuracy and saw his effort rising over the bar all the time after leaving his boot.

Two minutes later, Terengganu earned another corner. Zairo floated the ball to the near post where Ashaari was attacking it but a defender beat him to that. The ball fell to Dos Anjos at the far post whose shot was blocked by the goalkeeper, who was having a really fine game for the visitors.

From an attack NS Naza was awarded a corner on the hour mark. But it was quickly cleared. Zairo took control of the ball and tried to find Gleisson with a long pass. However, he was beaten to it by a defender but the ball fell to Mohd Shahril Zakaria. The midfielder spotted Farhan who was making his run. The pass was good and Farhan managed to unleash a shot from the top of the box. The goalkeeper managed to get his hands to it but Farhan’s effort had enough power to carry it over the line, much to the relief of the home fans.

In the 65^th minute Che Hishamuddin Hassan came on from the bench to replace Dos Anjos and the former NS Naza player was immediately in the thick of actions. He earned a free-kick just outside the box but this time the NS Naza’s defensive wall did their job.

In the 70^th minute Sharbinee faced his hardest test yet for the night but he did well to palm away Zaquan Adzhar’s effort for a fruitless corner. Then two minutes later a speculative shot from far had the young custodian scrambling back to his goal-line. Much to the relief of the Terengganu fans, he got his bearing right and tipped the ball over the bar.

The commitment shown by Gleisson should earn him the Man-of-the-Match award especially chasing what seemed to be a lost cause. His continuous running certainly put the visitors’ defence under pressure and prevented them from having the space to create any chances of going forward.

Terengganu continued to surge forward looking for a second goal for the night. With NS Naza seemed to be content in soaking up the pressure, the Turtles managed to create a few more openings but failed to get them on target or on the occassions they did, was denied by the goalkeeper who should receive heap of praises from NS Naza’s coach, Wan Jamak for keeping his team in the tie.

A single goal lead may look slim but not conceding one is just as important in a tie where away goals rule may play a significant role next Thursday.

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