KL bounce back to march into s-finals

24/12/1997

KUALA Lumpur bounced back after conceding an early goal to edge Terengganu
2-1 for a berth in the FA of Malaysia-Milo National Under-18 Cup
semifinals at the Police Depot ground yesterday.
Other teams who made the cut were Selangor, who will meet Kedah, and
Perak who take on KL.
Terengganu started on a confident note but could not keep the ball
moving forward.
The East Coast State earlier opened accounts through Alfizan Aziz in the
16th minute and looked as if they had the match sealed but Kuala Lumpur
had other plans.
The city boys came back strongly after the breather and were rewarded
when Mohamed Hazmin sent in a hard shot in the 56th minute which caught
goalkeeper Mohamed Syamsuri off guard.
The match became robust after this but the Kuala Lumpur players kept
cool and dominated play. In the 89th minute, Kuala Lumpur coach Mohamed
Shamsudin took a gamble and substituted top striker Mohamed Nizaruddin
with Mohamed Farid.
Farid received a good pass just as he ran into the pitch and put Kuala
Lumpur into the semifinals with his first kick of the match.
Earlier, goals by Ahmad Norafandy (50th, 82nd) and U. Ganesan (86th)
gave Perak a 3-2 victory over Penang in another clash. Mohamed Razwidaura
(20th) and Hasmawi Hassan (54th) replied for Penang.
On the adjacent pitch, champions Selangor lived up to expectations when
they beat Johor 2-1 to set up a meeting with Kedah in the other semifinal
today.
Selangor's goals were scored by Mohamed Helmi (4th, 52nd) while Johor
pulled one back through Mohmed Fareed (68th).
In the other quarterfinal, Kedah overcame a gritty Police 3-1 with goals
from Mohamed Fadly (13th, 72nd) and Akmal Rizal (89th) while Mahadi Haliah
(12th) scored for Police. SELANGOR ....... 2
JOHOR .......... 1 KEDAH .......... 3
POLICE ......... 1 TERENGGANU ..... 1
K LUMPUR ....... 2 PENANG ......... 2
PERAK ......... 3
(END)