SHAH ALAM (5 July 2015) – Pahang are getting hotter and Selangor found the Elephants simply too hot to handle at the Shah Alam Stadium on Saturday night with a come-from-behind 3-1 to keep their place at the top of the Super League.
At the end of the final whistle Pahang chief coach Zainal Abidin Hassan summed up his team’s impressive win with a thumbs up sign as the television cameras focused on him. The big smile that followed spelt of his joy and happiness in achieving the positive result at Shah Alam.
However, hot on the heels of Pahang are defending champions Johor Darul Takzim who remained unbeaten at the Larkin Stadium with a narrow 2-1 win over Police – thanks to a brace from skipper Safiq Rahim in the 4th and 55th minutes. Police narrowed the deficit through their Mali international Dramane Traore from the penalty spot in the 82nd minute.
After 14 matches Pahang lead the 12-team Super League with 30 points with JDT second on 28 points. Perak are third with 27 points after their 2-1 win over Armed Forces at the Perak Stadium in Ipoh with international Nurridzuan Abu Hassan (22nd minute) and South Korean Namkung Woong (66th) doing the damage. Armed Forces scored through Venice Elphi (42nd).
With the defeat at Shah Alam, Selangor slipped to fourth place in the table standings with 24 points while Felda United dropped points in their 2-2 draw against bottom placed Sime Darby at the Selayang Stadium.
The Red Giants looked like walking away with full points in front of their home fans when Australian Robert Cornthwaite found the net after only five minutes of play. The score remained unchanged at halftime.
However, Pahang came out with their guns blazing after the break and the Red Giants found the visitors simply too hot to handle once England-born Pakistani Zesh Rehman found the equaliser on 50 minutes.
This started the fightback by Pahang, who are known for their tremendous fighting spirit.
When Argentine hot-hot Matias Conti gave Pahang the lead it gave the Elephants the adrenaline they needed and Hafiz Kamal hammered the final nail into the Selangor coffin for a 3-1 win and three points that could go a long way in their quest to win the League.
Perak are going great guns under coach Datuk M. Karathu whose young team is keeping the pace hot at the top with South Korean hitman Namkung Woong once again showing why he has been a good buy for this season. The former Kedah striker struck the winner after Venice Elphi drew level for Armed Forces.
Inconsistent Felda United paid a heavy price at Selayang in the battle of the plantation giants and shared the spoils – thanks to Hadin Azman’s 81st minute strike, Gethe plantation giant managed to share the spoils after Sime Darby looked like pulling off an upset after taking the lead through Fahrul Razi Kamaruddin (27th).
Zah Rahan Krangar brought the match into life for Felda with the equaliser in the 33rd minute. However, Marko Perovic gave Sime Darby the lead once again just before the halftime break – only to see Hadin put Felda on level terms once again.
At the Jalan Besar Stadium it was painful 3-0 defeat for Kelantan. In a repeat of the FA Cup final, Lions roared with a brace by Faris Ramli (4th & 84th) with Khairul Amri getting the other in the 79th minute.
Terengganu finally tasted victory after six defeats on the trot. But it was Sarawak who grabbed the lead through Ryan Griffith after eight minutes of play.
However, the Turtles did enough at the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium with goals by Fakhrurazi Musa (24th) and a brace by Ismail Rafuqi (34th and 64th) and an own goal by Oatrick Gerhardt (86th) giving caretaker coach Ahmad Yusof a winning start. Sarawak’s second goal was scored by Ivan Fatic (54th).
SUPER LEAGUE RESULTS (SATURDAY 4TH JULY)
SELANGOR 1 PAHANG 3
JDT 2 POLICE 1
PERAK 2 A.FORCES 1
FELDA UNITED 2 SIME DARBY 2
LIONS XII 3 KELANTAN 0
TERENGGANU 4 SARAWAK 2
