KOTA BHARU (16 Feb 2015) – Kelantan, still mourning the death of Tok Guru (Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat), gave their fans plenty to cheer with a 2-0 win over Singapore outfit Lions XII in the only Super League match played on Sunday.
With the win the Red Warriors moved to the top of the league with Perak with six points each. Perak beat Armed Forces 2-0 in Paroi on Saturday after winning against Sime Darby by the same scoreline in their first match in Ipoh on Feb 7. On the same day Kelantan won 2-0 against Armed Forces.
The match against the Lions XII was postponed to Sunday as a mark of respect for former Mentri Besar Datuk Nik Aziz who passed away on Thursday. The FA of Malaysia (FAM) agreed to Kelantan’s request to postpone the match from Saturday to Sunday.
Fandi Ahmad’s team came to Kota Baru with the hope of at least sharing points after their comprehensive 5-3 win over newcomers Police at the Jalan Besar Stadium in their first match.
However, the Lions never recovered after conceding a sixth minute goal when Australian Jonathan McKain smashed a power packed header into the net past a rooted Izwan Mahbud.
Influential skipper, international Badhri Radzi whipped in a curling a freekick from outside the box for Kelantan’s second goal on 43 minutes and the scoreline remained the same till the final whistle.
For the record Kelantan won a grand treble in 2012 (the League Cup, the FA Cup and the Malaysia Cup) under coach Bojan Hodak who is now the head coach of Johor Darul Takzim. Lions won the League Cup in 2013.
Last season, the Red Warriors finished empty handed.
– PHOTO by mohd syahrul azam Zahari / www.asiana.my
