Thursday, November 22, 2012

Johor pull off a surprise..

JOHOR upset the form-book in Group A when they defeated Kelantan 4-0 in the MHC-MILO-NSC-MOE National Under-14 tournament at the Seremban II Stadium yesterday.
     The win has placed them in a good position to make the semi-finals as they play a weak Perlis in the final match today while Kelantan will have to defeat defending champions Kuala Lumpur to make the last four.
    Johor and Kelantan are tied on seven points with the City side comfortable on 10 points. However should both lose the matches, then Selangor can take the second spot available for the semis.
    Johor, knowing only a win will keep their hopes alive, kept up the pressure from the start, and  scored the opening goal in the 22nd minute through Faiq Razin.
    And In the final ten minutes, Johor added another three goals via Asyraff Nazri (61st, 62nd) and Fikri Amer (67th to take the crucial three points.
     In Group B, Perak booked a place in the semis, the first team to do so in the tournament with a clinical 2-0 defeat of Malacca.
    The silver state thus have won all their five matches and will complete their fixtures against Penang, a match thy can afford to lose and yet retain the top spot.
     Perak opened scoring in the 51st minute through Nazrul Asyraf and added the second off a penalty corner converted by Najmi Hayazi in the 69th.
      RESULTS: Group A -- Johor 4 Kelantan 0, Perlis 0 Selangor 4.
   Group B: Kedah 1 Sabah 3, Perak 2 Malacca 0, Terengganu 5 Penang 1.
    TODAY: Group A -- Kuala Lumpur v Kelantan (8am), Johor v Perlis (3pm), Pahang v Selangor (5pm).
   Group B: Kedah v Malacca (8am), Perak v Penang (3pm), Terengganu v Negri Sembilan (5pm).

GROUP A

                                P        W       D        L        F        A        PTS
K. Lumpur               4        3        1         0       12       4           10
Johor                       4         2        1        1        12       4            7
Kelantan                  4        2        1         1        3        4            7
Selangor                  4         2        0        2         8       8            6
Pahang                    4          0        2        2         2      11           2
Perlis                       4         0        1        3         2       8            1

 GROUP B

                                P        W       D        L        F      A        PTS
Perak                       5         5        0         0        15      2           15
N. Sembilan            5         3        1         1        14      9           10
Penang                    5         3        0         2        21      13          9
Terengganu             5         2        2         1         11      7           8
Malacca                  5          1       1         3          5      15           4
Sabah                      6         1        1         4          8      17           4
Kedah                     5         0        1         4          3       14          1

Sabah headache for Negri...

FIVE-TIME champions Kuala Lumpur virtually sealed their spot in the semi-finals of the MHC-MIL0-NSC-MOE National Under 14 after they came from a goal down to beat Pahang 4-1 in Group A yesterday.
  However, on the adjacent pitch, Negri Sembilan were dealt a big blow when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Sabah.
   With the draw, Negri now face an uphill task in trying to make the last four as they have to beat Terengganu and await the outcome of matches involving Penang.
   Last year losing finalists Terengganu are out of the running for a place in the semis after they were held to a 1-1 draw by Kedah.
   And Penang did their hopes a world of good by trashing Malacca 7-0 to enhance their chances in moving into semis from Group B.
 KL have 10 points from four matches and have Kelantan to play on Friday, a match that could well decide who tops Group A as the east coast side need to defeat Johor to set up the showdown for group champions.
  Perak only need one point from their remaining two matches, against Malacca today and Penang on Friday to seal their place.
   “Although we are sitting pretty we just cannot afford to take things for granted and have to play our very best. In age group tournaments nothing is certain and thus we have to remain cautious,” said Perak team manager Manjit Singh.
   “It is quite open at the moment as three teams, Perak, Penang and Negri are in the running for a place in the last four. And I expect it to boil down to matches on Friday to determine the semifinalists.”
  Pahang opened scoring in the 34th minute through Jamal Abdul Hassan. But the city side hit back with goals from Wan Haziq (47th) and a hat-trick from Fitri Khairul (59th, 61st, 70th).
   For hosts Negri, after taking the lead through Mahathir Rathuwan in the 23rd minute they created numerous chances but could not add on to their tally.
   And Sabah punished them with an equaliser in the 56th minute through Shafiq Zapi to share the spoils.
  THURSDAY: Group A: Johor v Kelantan (8am), Perlis v Selangor (4pm).
Group B: Kedah v Sabah (8am), Perak v Malacca (4.30pm), Terengganu v Penang (6pm).

  RESULTS: Group A -- Selangor 0 Kelantan 2, Kuala Lumpur 4 Pahang 1.
  Group B: Kedah 1 Terengganu 1, Sabah 1 Negri Sembilan 1, Malacca 0 Penang 7.

STANDINGS

GROUP A

                           P        W       D        L        F        A        PTS
K. Lumpur     4        3        1         0       12       4           10
Kelantan          3        2        1         0        3        0            7
Johor                 3         1        1        1         8        4           4
Selangor          3         1        0        2         4       8            3
Pahang             4          0        2        2         2      11           2
Perlis                 3         0        1        2         2       4             1


GROUP B

                          P        W       D        L        F      A        PTS
Perak                 4         4        0         0        13      2           12
N. Sembilan       5         3        1         1        14      9           10
Penang                4         3        0         1        20      8            9
Terengganu        4         1        2         1          6      6            5
Malacca             4          1       1         2          5      13           4
Kedah                 4         0        1         3          2       11          1
Sabah                 5         0        1         4          5      16           1