Matchweek 2: A tale of 2 east coast sides:T Team and Terengganu shines, Kelantan disappoints...

Kelantan couldn’t make their home advantage count as they were held by newly promoted side, Selangor PKNS.  Peter Butler reshuffled his line up and it proved to be the downfall as Faudzan Dzulkifli’s penalty was enough to deny Kelantan a victory in from of their home fans. Kelantan’s skipper, Badri Radzi scored the first goal but an uncharacteristic mistakefrom S.Subramaniam summed up Kelantan’s day. Kelantan had themselves to blame as their defense looked sloppy and they took their opponents lightly in this game.

The Borneo derby saw Sabah beating the regional rivals, Sarawak 2-1 in Kota Kinabalu. Michael Baird opened his account for Sabah to nab the 1^st goal and former Sarawak sensation, Bobby Gonzales scored the winning goal for the Rhinos. Promising forward, K.Ravindran scored the consolation goal for Robert Alberts’s side. The game was a heated affair, as one of the Sarawak players was sent off in the dying minutes of the game.

Safiq Rahim seems to have a knack for scoring goals against Perak as the National team captain scored the only goal of the game in Bukit Jalil. The 24 year old midfielder, scored after receiving a brilliant ball from Amri Yahyah which caught the Perak’s defense off guard. Selangor were the stronger side as they created flurry of chances as Perak were pegged back into their own half and only relied on counter attacks.

Negeri Sembilan continued their good run of form as Syakir Ali proved to be the toast as he scored two goals against home side, Johor FC. All eyes were on Effa Owona but this time the Cameroonian turned provider as he helped youngster, Syakir Ali score his first goals for Negeri Sembilan. Johor dominated the game as they created many chances but G.Mahathevan and Norhafiz Zamani Misbah were rock solid in defense.

 Kedah and Lions XII held out for a goalless draw as both sides collect their first points of the league. The drabby affair saw both sides only mustering 6 chances. Kedah were missing the presence of inspirational playmaker, Baddrol Bakhtiar as the Canaries were looking a shadow of themselves. V.Sundramoorthy would be glad to get a point from this tie as many teams have found it hard to beat Kedah in Alor Setar.

Ashaari Shamsuddin, showed his predatory instincts as the winger scored 2 goals to help Terengganu beat Felda United, 3-0 in Kuala Terengganu. The other goal was scored by midfielder, Ismail Faruqi after the 26 year old unleashed an unstoppable shot to beat Hamsani Ahmad. Terengganu were too strong for Felda as they dominated possession and showed real attacking verve against the club side. E.Elavarasan, known as Malaysia’s ‘Tinkerman’ saw his tinkering backfire as the players looked nervy against the Turtles.

T Team Terengganu are the league leaders with 6 points after thrashing Kuala Lumpur in the Hang Jebat Stadium. T Team who thrashed Kedah on Tuesday was the favorites for this tie and they proved their credentials by beating the struggling city side. Zairo Anuar Zalani is in a sizzling form as he has scored 3 goals in 2 games. Zachariah Simukonda opened his account for T Team as he scored the 2^nd goal of the game. Yunus Alif’s side were just a class above compared to the City Boys as they were well organized and looked promising during attacks.