Selangor and Malacca registered convincing wins in the National Under 16 tournament this morning and look forward to an explosive clash tomorrow (Monday).
Fixtures – Monday
Pahang were at the receiving end of the onslaught by Selangor who hammered the east coast side 7-1 while Malacca was equally clinical in their 3-1 win over Johor.
With defending champions Kuala Lumpur, who defeated PDRM 9-0 this morning, also in Group A, both Selangor and Malacca realize that it will be crucial for them to win the points when the two teams meet on Monday.
Selangor has a more difficult set of fixtures to end their campaign as they not only face Malacca but will be up against KL (Wednesday) and Johor (Thursday).
And coach Wan Samsuri Wan Hassan realizes that despite collecting maximum points from the three matches thus far, it is the match against Malacca that could well determine their fate in the tournament.
“It is a three way battle for the two semi finals spot from our group between Selangor, KL and Malacca,” said Wan Samsuri.
“While I rate our chances at 50/50 against KL, we have hold the edge over Malacca and I have told my players that it is akin to a final for us.
“Having eight players from last year’s team helps as we did not have more then a week’s preparation for the tournament this time. And after the relatively poor performance against Sabah in our opening match, we have been improving.
“Our initial target is making the semis and from there it will be an open affair as I do not see vast difference in standards amongst the teams here.”
Selangor is represented mostly by players from SMK Seksyen 11 Shah Alam and the Bukit Jalil Sports School. And they showed why they were a team to be feared as they completely demolished Pahang.
Mohd Noor Khairul scored a hattrick with goals in the 5th, 12th and 45th minutes with the other goals contributed by Mohd Haikal Zamri (13th minute), Nazirul Mubin (24th and 44th minutes) and Qamarul Afiq Azny (56th minute). Pahang’s consolation goal was scored by Khairul Amri Talha in the 32nd minute.
Meanwhile Malacca too was in a class of their own in their match against Johor and took the lead in the 6th minute via skipper Muhd Firdaus Omar. But Johor were on levels terms when Safeed Roslan found the back of the net in the 24th minute.
Goals from Mohd Firdaus (39th minute) and Muhd Nur Alif Aiman (53rd minute) gave Malacca the three points.
Tournament favourites Kuala Lumpur, who defeated Sabah 5-0 in their opening match on Saturday night, followed on with another display of fine finishing by trouncing PDRM 9-0.
Sunday Results
Group A
Selangor 7 Pahang 1
Johor 1 Malacca 3
Kuala Lumpur 9 PDRM 0
Group B
1530H – Singapore v Terengganu
1700H – Perak v Penang
1830H – Negri Sembilan v Perlis
2000H – Kedah v Kelantan
Fixtures – Monday
Group B
0730H - N. Sembilan v Kelantan
0830H – Perak v Perlis (KPM)
0900H – Kedah v Terengganu
1530H- Penang v Singapore
Group A
1700H – Kuala Lumpur v Pahang
1830H – Selangor v Malacca
2000H – PDRM v Sabah
