*Selangor’s Mission 33 blown away
*Night of glory for Kedah in Alor Setar
“We were second best in everything,” said Kelantan coach George Boateng after seeing his team knocked out of the Malaysia Cup semi-finals on a night when Kedah stunned the 2012 treble champions Kelantan with a 3-0 win at the Darulaman Stadium in Alor Setar on Friday.
It was night of shame for the Red Warriors as the Red Eagles celebrated on a night of glory which saw Kedah stage a fantastic comeback to advance to the last four when many had given up hope after their 3-1 defeat in the first-leg at the Sultan Mohd IV Stadium in Kota Bahru.
It was party time for the northern state as Kedah’s Ahmad Haniff led the fightback after 42 minutes but it was the last minute goal by Syafiq Ahmad that sent Kelantan out for a 4-3 aggregate win. In between international Baddrol Bakhtiar plundered Kedah’s second of the in the 53rd minute.
“The first half was a disaster…we were only second best in everything. Usually we are sharp in what we do on the field. It was totally different,” moaned Boateng, a former Dutch international.
His Kedah counterpart Tan Cheng Hoe was more than pleased with the way his players fought back and never gave up despite taking a two-goal deficit from the first-leg.
“They (the players) knew that goals will make the difference and they did it in style. We took our chances well. In fact we could have scored more. The drive was on…the players were sharp and they delivered,” said Cheng Hoe, a former international and national assistant coach to Datuk K. Rajagobal.
Waiting for Kedah in the semi-final will be the winners of tonight’s return-leg quarter-final between Premier League champions Pahang and defending Malaysia Cup champions Pahang. Both teams are tied 1-1 after the first-leg in Kuantan.
At the Temerloh Stadium, Felda United held off a fightback from 32 Malaysia Cup champions Selangor for a 3-3 draw and advance to the semi-finals 7-3 on aggregate for a place in the semi-finals either against Super League champions Johor Darul Takzim or Terengganu. The JDT-Terengganu match will be played on Oct 16 with both teams tied 0-0 after the first-leg.
Selangor looked good with goals when Paulo Rangel opened scoring on 30 minutes. The Brazilian completed his brace in the 62nd minute after Indonesian international scored Selangor’s second (52nd).
Felda were unsettled by Selangor’s fightback but Liberian striker Edward Wilsom (50th and 69th) minutes and the evergreen Indra Putra Mahayuddin on 87th minute snuffed out the Red Giants as the former kingpins finished their season without a silverware yet again .
RESULTS
QUARTER-FINALS (2ND-LEG)
Kedah 3 Kelantan 0
(Kedah qualify 4-3 on aggregate)
Felda United 3 Selangor 3
(Felda qualify 7-3 on aggregate)
