Sunday, July 24, 2011

PERAK OUTCLASS HOSTS MALACCA



Perak put themselves back in the running for a place in the semi finals of the Division One when they defeated hosts Malacca 4-1 at the MPMBB Stadium Bukit Serindit in Malacca.

Still smarting from their 4-2 defeat at the hands of Terengganu the previous day, Perak turned on their power to score three goals in the second half to out a dent the aspirations of Malacca, who now have to defeat Terengganu in their final preliminary round match on Tuesday.

Perak have three points while Malacca have one point, courtesy of their 2-2 draw against Pahang on Saturday night.

And all eyes will be on the final match of the day where Pahang take on Terengganu in the east coast derby. A win for Terengganu will assure them of a spot with Perak, Malacca and Pahang battling it out for the final berth.

Perak opened scoring in the 3rd minute through Hafifihafiz Hanafi and held on to the lead until the 44th minute when Khairul Nizam Mohd Rani equalised.

But that goal awoke Perak from their slumber and in the 53rd minute Hafifihafiz was on target once again to give his team a 2-1 lead.

Two goals by Mohammad Sabri Mohamed in the 62nd and 68th minutes, both via penalty corners gave Perak all three points and made the task of Malacca to qualify almost impossible.

"We played much better then we did against Pahang but I suppose that late match took the toll on the players as we collapsed in the final stages of the match," said Malacca coach K. Balakrishnan.

"It will be difficult to make the semis looking at our current position but so as long as we have a chance we will give it our best shot.

"Perak played well today and deserve the three points but we created enough chances midway through the match but failed to capitalise.