The hero: Engku Nur Shakir (centre) scored for Terengganu in the Group G match against Central Coast. — Bernama
PETALING JAYA: Terengganu showed that their victory over Central Coast Mariners during the opening action in Group G of the AFC Cup in Kuala Terengganu last September was not a fluke after they managed to hold the Australian club to a 1-1 draw in Gosford.
Engku Nur Shakir’s beautiful header in the 53rd minute looked like it was enough to give Tomislav Steinbruckner’s squad three points before Miguel Di Pizio’s equaliser three minutes before the end erased the advantage.
On paper, the Turtles squad looked very weak with only 15 players registered and only having four players on the bench but it did not discourage them from countering the strength of the home team.
Habib Haroon and Sony Norde each had a chance to put Terengganu in front but were stopped by Central Coast goalkeeper Danny Vukovic.
Suhaimi Hussin also put up an excellent performance in the Terengganu goal to ensure that the score remained 0-0 until the end of the first half.
The confidence can be seen on the faces of the Terengganu players when they managed to hold their opponents in the first half and they started to attack to find the opening goal with a well organised and disciplined performance.
From Sony Norde’s corner kick, Engku cleverly headed the ball back and it soared beyond the reach of Vukovic to give Terengganu the opening goal that stunned the home fans.
Central Coast made five changes after that, which eventually resulted in the equaliser through a substitute player and thus thwarting Terengganu’s desire to collect three points.
Central Coast remained at the top of Group G with 10 points while Terengganu are second with nine points.
The last matches of the group on Dec 13 between Terengganu and Bali United, and Stallion Laguna and Central Coast, will determine which team qualify for the next stage as the group champions.
