KUALA LUMPUR (14 April 2014) – Two well taken free kicks in the first half gave SMK Seksyen 11 of Selangor a hard fought 2-1 win over SMK Za’ba of Negeri Sembilan in the Premier League of the Minister of Education Under-14 League Cup tie that was played on the weekend at the SMK Seksyen 23 Mini Stadium.
The win was SMK Seksyen 11’s second in two matches following their 4-1 victory over SMK Datuk Mojuntin of Sabah last week. The team had begun the year on the wrong footing when they fell to a 3-0 loss in the season opener to SMK Gunung Rapat of Perak.
“There is still some tweaking to be done for sure,” said Abdul Razak Salleh, the head coach of SMK Sekysen 11. “We started the season slow but we are getting there after the last two wins at home.
“Now we need to inject more composure when playing away where next weekend we will be on the road to Pahang (against SMK Seberang Temerloh). That will be the test to see how much the team has grown in these two weeks.”
Despite the threat of rain, the game got off to an intense note with both teams going in for some crunching tackles. And it was through one of these exchanges that resulted in SMK Za’ba goalkeeper Muhammad Amirul Abdullah being stretchered out with a cut to the top of his left eye.
The change for the less experienced substitute custodian Mohammad Syawalfitri Mohammad Derus would turn out to be pivotal as SMK Seksyen 11 took advantage to fire in two superbly taken freekicks off Muhammad Syahmi Zamri in the 22nd minute and Adib Faris Zulamri in the 24th minute.
And while SMK Za’ba replied with a free kick of their own through Abdul Razi Abdul Rahim in the 27th minute, it was not enough to trigger a revival as SMK Seksyen 11 kept to their guns for the full points.
In the meantime, SMK Putera of Kelantan picked up their fourth win in five matches when they thumped SMK Seberang Temerloh 2-0, with Mohamad Ikhwan Yazek scoring the lead on 16 minute as Amir Aliff Amaran then conceded an own goal in the 35th minute.
In the Super League, the big boys did not have the weekend they were yearning for when they were held to home draws. Triple champions SMK Tunku Anum of Kedah battled to a scoreless draw against SMK Syed Hassan of Perlis while defending champions SMK Mutiara Impian of Penang were held 1-1 by SMK Tun Hussein of Johor.
Muhammad Izzat Mazlan gave the visiting side from Johor the lead just after seven minutes before SMK Mutiara Impian replied with the equalizer off Muhammad Akif Iqraiz Zuhairi in the 37th minute.
The MELC and 100PLUS Super Cup are among several youth programmes and competitions supported by 100PLUS, Malaysia’s leading isotonic beverage.
The others include the 100PLUS Malaysian Junior Golf Open and the 100PLUS National Junior Badminton Circuit. 100PLUS is recommended by the National Sports Council.
UNDER-14 RESULTS
LIGA SUPER
SMK Mutiara Impian (PENANG) 1
SMK Tun Hussein Onn (JOHOR) 1
SMK Tunku Anum (KEDAH) 0
SMK Syed Hassan (PERLIS) 0
PREMIER LEAGUE
SMK Putera (KELANTAN) 2
SMK Seberang Temerloh (PAHANG) 0
SMK Seksyen 11 (SELANGOR) 2
SMK Za’ba (NEGERI SEMBILAN) 1
