# Kedah find out the hard way in their 2-0 defeat to Felda
# Kedah face Terengganu in their first Super League match at home in four years
Â
Kedah coach Tan Cheng Hoe believes it will be tough for teams playing at Felda United’s new home – the Tun Abdul Razak Stadium in Jengka – which has an artificial turf.
Cheng Hoe, in his own words says the artificial turf in Jengka “is hard” compared to the artificial turf at the Jalan Besar Stadium in Singapore and it will take a long time for teams to get used to it.
The newly promoted Red Eagles, as Kedah are called, slumped to a 2-0 defeat to the plantation giants in their opening Super League match in Jengka on Saturday – with the artificial turf at the new stadium a contributing factor.
“Frankly we had a tough time getting used to the pitch in Jengka. However, that is not the excuse for our defeat. We had our chances but failed to score due to our poor finishing and paid a high price for that,” said Cheng Hoe.
Putting the defeat aside Kedah are now looking for a positive result against Terengganu at the Darulaman Stadium in Alor Stadium on Tuesday – Kedah’s first Super League match at home in four years.
Kedah football suffered a blow when Datuk Seri Mukhriz Tun Mahathir, who was also the Kedah FA president, quit as the Mentri Besar of Kedah.
With that Kedah FA also lost several millions in sponsorship when some of the sponsors backed out following the political change in the leadership.
“We leave the sponsorship deals to the (Kedah) FA’s management. The management has told the team not to worry about salaries and bonuses although some sponsors have pulled out,” added Cheng Hoe.
“The team is very much focused on the M-League and Kedah want to be in the forefront in winning titles. I am confident we will bounce back from the defeat to Felda.”
Apart from winning the Premier League title last season Kedah also finished runners-up in the Malaysia Cup – losing 2-0 to Selangor in the final at the Shah Alam Stadium with Hazwan Bakiri scoring a brace for the Red Giants.
The match against Terengganu has drawn a lot of interest from the Kedah fans and a win over Terengganu will kick-start their home campaign in the elite league.
