* Relegated Armed Forces chuck N. Sembilan out with 3-0 win
* JDT II edged Sime Darby 1-0
There is still the Malaysia Cup to fight for as relegated Armed Forces out gunned Negri Sembilan 3-0 and Premier League’s Johor Darul Takzim II edged Sime Darby 1-0 in the playoffs on Tuesday.
It was a humiliating defeat for Negri Sembilan at the Selayang Stadium after failing to get promotion to the Super League in a season coach K. Devan would want to forget.
Armed Forces were in a class of their own and former Perak player Abdulafees Abdulsalam was the toast of the Gladiators with a brace. His first came from the penalty spot after 13 minutes of play.
He completed his brace on 62 minutes after former Terengganu and Selangor player Sukor Jusoh slotted in the second for his team in the 38th minute. Forces’ can also thank their goalkeeper Syed Adny Syed Hussein for his fine performance between the posts – saving shots from Francis Forkey Doe a couple of times.
JDT II’s winner came from Shafiq Shahruddin just before the break when his header was enough to round up a miserable season for the plantation giant who finished at the bottom of the Super League with only one win in 22 matches.
Shafiq, son of former international Shaharuddin Abdullah, is asset for JDT II and has notched many vital goals although their quest for promotion to the Super League did not materialise. JDT II is the Johor’s feeder team and players who impress will get promoted to the JDT Super League team.
The Malaysia Cup is a 16-team affair – with the top 10 teams from the Super League and the top four from the Premier League gaining automatic qualification with the remaining two coming via playoffs between the bottom two in the Super League and the fifth and sixth placed teams in the lower-tier league.
The four seeded teams in the Malaysia Cup are Super League champions JDT, runners-up Pahang, third-placed Selangor and fourth-placed Terengganu – all in POT 1.
In POT 2 will be Felda United, Police, Lions XII and Perak while POT 3 will have Kelantan, Sarawak, Premier League champions Kedah and runners-up Penang. T-Team, PKNS FC, Armed Forces and JDT II will be in POT 4.
The Malaysia Cup draw will be made tomorrow and the competition kicksoff on Sept 11.
MALAYSIA CUP PLAYOFF RESULTS
Armed Forces 3 N. Sembilan 0
JDT II 1 Sime Darby 0
