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Sports

Wednesday October 14, 2009

Akmal’s late show

By ERIC SAMUEL

PETALING JAYA: Former international Akmal Rizal Rakhli converted a late penalty to steer Kuala Muda Naza into the quarter-finals of the Malaysia Cup competition.

It gave the Kedah club side a 3-2 win over Selangor in a Group D match at the Darulaman Stadium in Alor Setar last night.

With full points from the match, Kuala Muda advanced as one of the three best second-place teams in the five-group preliminary rounds. The other two second-place qualifiers were Perlis (Group A) and Terengganu (Group B).

Kelantan and Selangor had qualified as winners of Group E and Group D respectively before last night’s final round of matches and joining them were KL Plus (Group A), Negri Sembilan (Group B) and Johor FC (Group C).

Race is on: Kelantan’s Mohd Norfarhan(left) is challenged by Armed Forces’ Mohd Azrul Abdul Hamid during their Malaysia Cup match at the Sultan Mohd IV Stadium.

Kuala Muda picked up the last slot to the knockout stage of the competition after coming back twice from a goal down to end the Red Giants’ unbeaten run in 24 matches since March 31.

Selangor, fielding mostly their reserve players, led with a goal by R. Sreetharan in the 38th minute and Akmal drew Kuala Muda level in first-half stoppage time. National striker Safee Sali regained the lead for Selangor in the 49th minute but Farderin Kadir equalised in the 79th minute before Akmal coolly slotted in the winner from the spot kick five minutes from time.

In Ipoh, Perak were in contention for the quarter-final berth from Group C after Mohd Saufi Saladi equalised for them in the 71st minute to cancel Farid Ederis’ strike for Johor FC in the 45th minute. But the 1-1 draw was not enough to keep them alive in the competition. They finished on 11 point – one point fewer than Kuala Muda.

Perlis beat KL Plus 1-0 at the KL Football Stadium to go on 13 points but still finished as the runners-up to the highwaymen in Group A on goal difference. A goal by Ahmad Fakri Shaarani in the 30th minute was enough to take the Northern Lions into the quarter-finals.

It was a sad end for Kedah, bowing out empty-handed this year after their glorious treble-winning efforts of the last two seasons.

Mohd Azraai Khor’s men needed Lady Luck and an avalanche of goals against Penang in their final Group E match for a chance to advance to the knockout stage. They chalked up a 4-0 win at the State Stadium in Batu Kawan but their efforts were all in vain.

Terengganu made it even though they lost 0-2 against Negri Sembilan in a Group B match at the Tuanku Abdul Rahman Stadium in Paroi. The Turtles went into the match on 12 points and held the advantage of a superior goal difference.

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