Striker Mohamad Khairul Iskandar led Penang’s SMK Mutiara Impian to their first-ever Charity Shield when they whitewashed SMK Bukit Nenas of Terengganu 3-0 in the match that was played at the SMK Mutiara Impian Stadium on Saturday.
The Charity Shield serves as the curtain rasier to the annual Minister of Education League Cup.
SMK Mutiara Impian, who had lost last year’s Charity Shield to the Gambang Sports School, did not make the same mistakes again this time round when they nailed all the goals in the first half for their first silverware of the season.
“I missed a few chances at the start but I’m glad that I managed to score the first goal,” said Khairul. “I believe the lead gave us the confidence to go forward and to looke for more goals.
“It is certainly a great feeling to win the Charity Shield as this will put the team in the right frame of mind for the rest of the season.”
Cheered on by the fans each time he touched the ball, Khairul were all over the Terengganu defence and in the eighth minute he gave an inkling of what’s to come with a shot that agonisingly came off the upright.
Undeterred, Khairul trudged on and in the 23rd minute he finally found the back of the net when he struck home a goal mouth melee to send the fans into a frenzy.
Five minutes later, Muhammad Aiman Zahari added to the tally with a superb freekick from at least 25 metres out that had SMK Bukit Nenas keeper Ahmad Irfan Ibrahim beaten for the second time in the game.
By the time, Muhammad Fawwaz Mohd Razif fired in a penalty when Khairul was brought down inside the box, the game was all over for SMK Bukit Nenas as they will now have to rethink their plan on defending the overalll U14 crown they won last year.
“It is disappointing for sure. The lads do not look like how they were in the friendlies that we had played previously,” added SMK Bukit Nenas coach Asmawi Sulong.
“We have to work to do and there were some areas which we were not too pleased about, especially in defence.”
For SMK Mutiara Impian, they not only won the Charity Shield but they also had Khairul picking up the accolade as the Man of the Match.
RESULT
SMK Mutiara Impian 3 SMK Bukit Nenas 0
