* Kedah crowned Premier League champions to earn promotion
* Penang also earn Super League berth
* T-Team promotion hopes shattered with embarassing 2-1 defeat to Kuantan FA
* K.Lumpur and SPA Putrajaya relegated to third-tier FAM League
AFTER plying their trade in the lower-tier Premier League former powerhouse Kedah are back in the elite Super League after being crowned Premier League champions with 5-1 whitewash of DRB Hicom in their final match at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Friday.
It was a night of the foreigners for Kedah as Brazilian Sandro Da Silve fired a hattrick while Nigerian Chidi Edeh netted a brace.
It sparked massive celebrations at the National Stadium as the Red Eagles topped the 12-team league with 48 points – three more than second-placed Penang who sneaked in with a 2-0 win over UiTM FC at the Hang Jebat Stadium in Malacca.
But it was a different story at Kuantan’s Darul Makmur Stadium when Kuantan FA dashed T-Team’s hope of finishing second. A win would have given the Titans three points and a total of 45 – the same as Penang but a better goal difference after their massive 7-0 win over relegated SPA Putrajaya in their last match.
The big win drew a protest from Penang who filed an official complaint with the FA of Malaysia (FAM) over the suspicious scoreline.
But all that does not matter as Penang made it all-Northern affair in getting promoted to the Super League.
The only consolation for T-Team is that the Terengganu outfit gained an automatic berth in the Malaysia Cup competition.
Kuantan FA scored through Abdul Malik Mat Ariff (17th) and Milan Purovic (23rd) while T-Team replied through Marzuki Yusof on 55 minutes.
At the National Stadium victory was never in doubt for Tan Cheng Hoe and his team even when DRB Hicom equalised through Ivan Babic off a penalty in the 7th minute after Sandro Da Silva opened scoring for the champions as early as the third minute.
A solo effort by Nigerian hot-shot Chidi Edeh on nine minutes put Kedah in front again and the Red Eagles never looked back after that with a dominating performance with Da Silva getting his second in the 31st minute.
Kedah were 3-1 up after 49 minutes when Chidi completed his brace before Da Silva hammered his third goal in the 78th minute to complete his team’s supremacy with a massive 5-1 win for the title and the promotion that came with it.
Penang scored a goal in each half to win 2-0 against UiTM FC to come back from the dead after T-Team looked sure to earn a promotion. Former JDT player Azinee Taib scored the first after eight minutes before Hilton Moreira got the second on 81 minutes. The match was played at Malacca’s Hang Jebat Stadium.
At the Hang Tuah Stadium in Malacca PKNS FC, who were in contention for promotion at one stage, ran out 3-0 winners over SAP Putrajaya. Goals by Nazrin Syamsulbahrin (11th) and a brace by Gabriel Guerra in the 26th and 74th minutes were enough to guarantee a top four finish (41 points) and an automatic place in the prestigious Malaysia Cup.
JDT II finished fifth in the league with 34 points and sixth-placed Negri Sembilan (32 points) will be involved in playoffs with bottom two Super League teams Armed Forces and Sime Darby in the Malaysia Cup playoffs on Tuesday.
Friday’s matches also saw former great Kuala Lumpur relegated to the third-tier FAM League together with SPA Putrajaya. KL finished 11th with 18 points while SPA Putrajaya ended last with 11 points.
FINAL PREMIER LEAGUE RESULTS (AUG 21)
DRB HICOM 1 KEDAH 5
UiTM FC 0 PENANG 2
KUANTAN FA 2 T-TEAM 1
SPA PUTRAJAYA 0 PKNS FC 3
SABAH 1 JDT II 2
N.SEMBILAN 2 K.LUMPUR 1
