fuel cells

TERENGGANU 4

Jocian Bento Dos Anjos 9,  Che Hishamuddin 22

Ashaari Shamsuddin 31,  Wan Mohd Aliff 90+3

SARAWAK 2

Terengganu confirmed their place in the last eight of the 2008 Malaysia Cup competition despite an unconvincing performance in their 4-2 win over Sarawak at the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium last night.

Goals from Jocian Bento Dos Anjos, Che Hishamuddin, Ashaari Shamsuddin gave them a 3-0 lead at half time with Zairo Anwar even managed to miss his penalty after Ashaari Shamsuddin was fouled inside the box . Sarawak replied with a deflected shot by their playmaker Temina Hamid and a superb goal by Joseph Kallang Tie. The home fans were at the edge of their seat before Wan Mohamad Alif Jasmin made sure with a fourth goal deep into injury time.

Terengganu were a bit slow from the starting block and it was Sarawak who had the first look at goal. From a quick counter-attack the ball found its way Joseph Kallang Tie who tried a shot on the turn but Sharbini Allawee saved comfortably.

Then in the 8th minute Terengganu had their first look at the visitors’ goal when Dos Anjos broke free on the right and delivered a cross. The goalkeeper palmed it away but Liew Kit Kong managed to win it back and prodded it towards Ashaari. However the youngster who played for Malaysia against Chelsea on Wednesday could not keep his shot down.

A minute later Kit Kong found Dos Anjos with another wonderful pass. The Brazilian broke into the box before unleashing a powerful drive which gave the young Sarawak goalkeeper no chance at all.

Terengganu defence led by Marzuki Yusof was not at their best last night, perhaps due to the lack of defensive cover by the two central midfielders, Zairo Anwar and Ismail Faruqi. Luckily for them Sharbini was equal to the task and denied Sarawak on numerous occasion including a point blank save in the 19th minute after they managed to break through on the right.

Kit Kong was a shadow of his former self when he missed two good chances, one in each half after being put through with just the goalkeeper to beat. The first was in the 20th minute after Zairo found him with a defence splitting pass but his attempted lob sailed over the bar.

A minute later Terengganu forced two successive corners and scored with one of them. The Sarawak coach would be having nightmares with his defence when they completely misjudged the flight of the ball and also for leaving Che Hishamuddin unmarked at the far post. The pocket sized striker just stooped to guide the ball into the empty net.

Another error by Sarawak benefited Kit Kong as he won the ball at the halfway line. He spotted Che Hishamuddin’s run and delivered a through pass to his strike partner but it was too heavy and the Sarawak goalkeeper gathered easily. Then Zairo found himself being given a bit of extra space and tried his luck from 35 metres. His effort did not miss the goal by much.

Then in the 31st minute Terengganu were three goals to the good. Kit Kong won the ball at the halfway line and played a series of one-twos with Ashaari past the Sarawak defence which finished with the talented youngster finding the back of the net with a stiff low shot past the goalkeeper.

With just three minutes to the interval Terengganu defence went asleep again and this time they just managed to watch as a Sarawak player jumped high to connect with a good cross from the left. Again Sharbini came to their rescue by tipping the ball over bar.

Then Ashaari managed to skip past the Sarawak defence but his run was checked by a defender resulting in the referee blowing for a penalty, much to the joy of the home fans. However, their happiness was short-lived when Zairo failed to find the target from twelve metres despite having sent the goalkeeper the wrong way.

Sarawak came out for the second half with more determination and Sharbini was called into action early in the second half when he won a one on one confrontation with the Sarawak striker in the 48th minute. On the hour mark the referee awarded Sarawak a free-kick just outside the Terengganu penalty area after Marzuki had committed a foul.

The wall did its job in preventing the ball from continuing its flight towards goal. However the loose ball was picked up by Temina who tried his luck from distance. Much to his joy, the ball took a slight deflection off a Terengganu player but was enough to wrong-footed Sharbini who could only watch as the ball rolled into the net.

One could be forgiven to think that it would be just a consolation goal for Sarawak.

In the 68th minute Kit Kong played a wonderful one-two with substitute Abdul Manaf Mamat and was put through with just the goalkeeper to beat. Just like in the first half, the former international failed to keep his lob down despite having beaten the goalkeeper. A minute later he saw his shot blocked by a defender after Ashaari had delivered a good low ball from the right.

Clearly, it was not his night in front of the goal despite having a hand in two of the three Terengganu goals so far. Wan Mohamad Alif came on for him in the 73rd minute. Three minutes later Dos Anjos found Ashaari with a crisp pass. The youngster managed to turn but his shot lacked power.

Then in the 77th minute Sarawak counter-attacked again and this time Kallang Tie found time and space to unleash a shot from thirty metres. This time around Sharbini could not react and could only watch as the thunderous shot hit the back of the net.

The goal clearly ignited the fighting spirit in the Sarawak player. They seemed to be able to find team-mates with their passes and with the home defence looked vulnerable, they poured forward looking for the equaliser. However, they lacked the crucial final pass that would prove fatal to Terengganu.

The closest they came was four minutes from time when Terengganu defence was caught square again but with just Sharbini to beat, the Sarawak player skied his shot, much to the relief of the crowd.

Then Terengganu played the smart game of retaining possession which effectively ended Sarawak resistance. Then deep into injury time a long ball into the box caused confusion in the Sarawak defence. Abdul Manaf took advantage of this and headed the ball to set up Wan Mohamad Alif with an opening.

The young substitute took it on the volley which gave the Sarawak goalkeeper no chance at all. And that goal clearly relieved the pressure from every single Terengganu supporters watching that match.

One thing for sure they would have a lot to improve when the starting whistle is blown by the referee this Wednesday against Perlis.