binny

A trip to Terengganu was next up for us, and as well as Makmor, Luis Rodrigo was also ruled out due to suspension. It wasn’t the best build up to the match, but the side still looked strong.

The game was a tight, midfield battle, and the referee was also a little card-happy, booking no fewer than nine players over the course of the ninety minutes. Chances at both ends were few and far between, with both sides taking turns to miss opportunities.

We were further hampered when Eddy Helmi Abdul Manan was taken off injured, but thankfully it was nothing too serious, and he’ll be available for next week again.

The second half opened up a little with a few more chances on view, but neither side seemed capable of scoring. That was until two minutes from time when Marcelo Padilha da Rocha forced his way through the home defence, and slotted the ball into the net to grant us a very welcome victory.

binny

Our penultimate home game was against Selangor MK Land, and the yellow card count was mounting up to deprive us of yet more players for the match; this time Rashid Mamud and Rufin Oba were forced to sit out the game.

We didn’t start off well though as a neat free kick move ended with the opening goal for the visitors, after just six minutes. We survived a few nervy minutes after that, but within ten minutes we were level as Abdul Manan headed in an equaliser at the far post.

We failed to build on that though, and we found ourselves rocking as the visitors pummelled our goal. Somehow, we kept them out until half time, but just as the second half was getting under way Chandran spilled an effort, and with a lot of confusion in the box, Selangor were able to retake the lead as a shot blasted into an empty net.

We couldn’t get going after that, and we slumped to yet another defeat to leave the title race still wide open with just three games to go.

binny

The trip to Melaka was a must-win game for us, and we were at virtually full strength for the tie.

The game started well for us as well as Abdul Manan ended a neat build-up move with a good finish. The game though was very even, and chances went begging at both ends of the pitch. We seemed to be holding out quite well, but just before half time their Bosnian striker capitalised on a poor defensive clearance to equalise for the home side.

It didn’t get much better early in the second half as we gave away a somewhat harsh penalty and we found ourselves behind. We didn’t know how to react to the bad news, and even when we did get forward, we ran straight into the Melaka defenders.

To add insult to injury, Melaka hit a third with a 30-yard screamer, and that effectively consigns us to the Premier League for another season.

binny

We still have a very slim chance of promotion, but in order to achieve that, we’ll have to win both of our remaining games, starting with the home tie against N. Sembilan. Even then it may not be enough, and we have a couple of players who are just too tired to take the field today.

We started brightly, and early on Rizal Sukiman headed us into the lead from a corner. But we failed to concentrate straight after scoring, and within two minutes the visitors were level as their striker outpaced our defence and passed the ball into the net.

It was a very tight match, with much of the play taking place in the centre of the field. It was going to take a mistake to find the next goal, and unfortunately that mistake was made by ourselves and we were behind once more.

It got even worse just before half time when their striker glanced home from a speculative cross, and he completed his hatrick to have us trailing by two goals.

We had absolutely no response in the second half as the season seemed to be catching up with us, and we’ll have to try again next season.

binny

SUMMARY – July 2005

Terengganu 0
Kuala Lumpur 1 (Marcelo Padilha da Rocha 88)
Attendance: 4614

Kuala Lumpur 1 (Eddy Helmi Abdul Manan 17)
Selangor MK Land 2 (Pachayan Madurai 6, Suhaimi Jusoh 49)
Attendance: 637

Melaka 3 (Emir Dzafic 42, pen 50, Mohd feldaus Hamid 78)
Kuala Lumpur 1 (Eddy Helmi Abdul Manan 11)
Attendance: 7328

Kuala Lumpur 1 (Rizal Sukiman 13)
N. Semblian 3 (Efendi Abdul Malek 15, 38, 43)
Attendance: 2969

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag G.D. Pts1st P Selangor MPPJ 23 12 5 6 38 28 +10 412nd Kelantan 23 10 7 6 35 34 +1 373rd Kuala Lumpur 23 10 5 8 32 27 +5 354th N. Sembilan 23 7 11 5 23 17 +6 325th Melaka 23 7 11 5 30 25 +5 326th Selangor MK Land 23 8 4 11 31 30 +1 287th Terengganu 24 6 10 8 15 20 -5 288th Kelantan SKMK 23 4 12 7 15 23 -8 249th R Johor 23 4 7 12 16 31 -15 19 </pre>

binny

The league season may be drawing to a close, but we still have the Malaysian Cup to play. Given that the players need to pick themselves up, I’m minded to play a strong line-up for the group stage.

Two players who won’t be featuring until next season though are Rizal Sukiman and Bahtiar Othman. Both have had surgery following training-ground injuries; Sukiman suffering a slipped disc and Othman injuring his hip. Neither is expected back until the turn of the year at the earliest.

The last game of the league campaign was away at Kelantan SKMK and although we edged the first half, we fell behind just before half time as we were left to rue yet another defensive mistake.

Abdul Manan did get an equaliser early in the second half with his 10th strike of the season, and although we should have won it, it was nice to end our run of three straight losses with a final-day draw.

binny

The season isn’t quite over, as the Malaysian Cup starts straight away. 16 sides are split into four groups of four, and after home and away ties against each other team in your group, the top two qualify for the quarterfinals. We’ve been placed in Group C alongside Johor FC, Penang and Perlis.

The first game of the competition took us to Perlis and despite attacking from the start, we couldn’t find the net, and were made to pay for it after twenty minutes when the Super League side took the lead. Eight minutes later a goalmouth melee led to a second goal for the home side, and we were struggling to stay in touch.

But early in the second half we were assisted when the home side were reduced to ten men, and we knew that we had a chance. Perlis though kept coming at us, and it was only in the last few minutes that we could finally push forward. In the final minute Rashid Mamud did get one back, but it was too little too late.

binny

Next up for us was another of the Super League sides, in the form of Penang. It was a cracking game early on, but we were far too dirty for our own good, and no fewer than five players found themselves in the referee’s book. It was only a matter of time before someone found themselves sent off, and that dishonour went to Rufin Oba with two minutes to go before the break.

In terms of the play, we had been doing alright, but in first half injury time Penang got the ball towards goal, and Rashid Mamud, trying to clear the ball, turned it into his own net.

It was a tough pill for us to swallow, and with only ten men, we knew we were up against it. We did try to get back into the game, but we just ran out of ideas and the legs weren’t holding out, as we fell to another defeat.

binny

A trip to Johor FC represents the halfway mark of the group stage, and with our central midfield pairing both suspended, the duty of marshalling the midfield was given to Gopalan Muthu and Nordin Kamis.

Yet again we began brightly, only to fall behind to a Walter Silva goal after fifteen minutes. We regrouped well though, and on the half hour Eddy Helmi Abdul Manan equalised with a fantastic free kick that flew in from 30 yards.

It got even better for us four minutes later as the home side were reduced to ten men, and we could sense a victory.

Chances though were difficult to create, but with seventeen minutes to go we were awarded a penalty. But Padilha da Rocha’s poor form continued as the goalkeeper made a good save, and we were still only level.

Five minutes from time we were also reduced to ten men when Nazrulerwan Makmor was sent off for the third time this season, and we had to settle for a point that leaves us in a precarious position as we try to make the quarterfinals.

binny

SUMMARY – August 2005

Kelantan SKMK 1 (Abdul Latif Jusoh 43)
Kuala Lumpur 1 (Eddy Helmi Abdul Manan 54)
Attendance: 2724

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag G.D. Pts1st P Selangor MPPJ 24 13 5 6 42 29 +13 442nd Kelantan 24 11 7 6 37 34 +3 403rd Kuala Lumpur 24 10 6 8 33 28 +5 364th N. Sembilan 24 7 11 6 23 19 +4 325th Melaka 24 7 11 6 30 27 +3 326th Selangor MK Land 24 8 4 12 32 34 -2 287th Terengganu 24 6 10 8 15 20 -5 288th Kelantan SKMK 24 4 13 7 16 24 -8 259th R Johor 24 5 7 12 18 31 -13 22</pre>
Perlis 2 (Tengku Hazman Raja Hassan 19, Mohd Faizal Marjus 27, Adrien Jurad Chamrong s/o 51)
Kuala Lumpur 1 (Rashid Mamud 90)
Attendance: 716
Malaysian Cup, Group C

Kuala Lumpur 0 (Rufin Oba s/o 43)
Penang 1 (Rashid Mamud (og) 45)
Attendance: 191
Malaysian Cup, Group C

Johor FC 1 (Walter Silva 15, Mohd Khaidir Dom s/o 33)
Kuala Lumpur 1 (Eddy Helmi Abdul Manan 29, Marcelho Padilha da Rocha m/pen 73, Nazrulerwan Makmor s/o 85)
Attendance: 417
Malaysian Cup, Group C

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag G.D. Pts1st Perlis 2 2 0 0 4 1 +3 62nd Johor FC 3 1 1 1 3 4 -1 43rd Penang 2 1 0 1 2 2 0 34th Kuala Lumpur 3 0 1 2 2 4 -2 1 </pre>