There was a flurry of FA Cup fixtures in Malaysian football over the past five days, with the added excitement of some unwanted drama that was given much coverage.
Let us run through some of the action that mattered, both the expected and unexpected.
The classic
The game of the round was obviously Singapore's Lions XII hosting Pahang. The final result was a 2-1 win in favour of the east coast giants.
We did say that a certain Hafiz Kamal is one to watch and he duly delivered, opening the scoring as Pahang stunned Lions XII at the Jalan Besar Stadium in Kallang, Singapore on Saturday.
A late consolation from Safuwan Baharudin (classified as a Mohd Khairul Mohd Khalid own goal) was all Fandi Ahmad's men could muster. The Singaporeans will need to put this blip in a cup tie behind them and look to bounce back immediately with a home Super League tie against Terengganu on Saturday.
Unbeaten at home since 2012, this could very well prove to be a blessing in disguise for Fandi's men as they can regroup and plan for Terengganu's visit without the added pressure of having to maintain a streak indefinitely.
On the other hand, a defeat to Terengganu could spell further doom and whispers of collapse for the LionsXII.
However, it quite probably was a physical problem for the Lions as in their last two league games, they had worked extremely hard. The injury time winner at home to Selangor and coming back from two down to win a point against JDT 1 seems to have caught up with them.
Regardless, Lions XII will be welcoming a visit from the Turtles, who themselves were unceremoniously dumped out of the cup by PKNS 2-1.
The defeat at the hands of Wan Jamak Wan Hassan's boys (PKNS) makes it a second loss in three matches for coach Abdul Rahman Ibrahim (Terengganu) and both coaches find themselves under a slight tinge of pressure early on this season.
Victory would be essential, though leaving Singapore even with a point would be a victory in itself for Terengganu – no reason to charge towards wounded lions carelessly.
The drama
Across the causeway, there was more than anticipated action and drama as Johor Darul Takzim took on T-Team.
With the match poised tantalisingly at 2-1 going into half-time at the Darul Takzim stadium, it would not be so far-fetched to have expected some drama as both teams kick-off for the start of the second half.
Things kicked off, alright, but neither on the pitch or during the second half.
Half-time indeed felt like primetime… a spat occurring in the tunnel as both teams streamed towards their respective dressing rooms for a breather; police reports being lodged by both sides, as both players and officials participated in this scuffle.
It is such a shame for the match to have turned out this way, after the mostly entertaining football in the first half giving the fans at the stadium and at home their money's worth.
Very little is known for sure of what transpired until a decision is made by the Football Association of Malaysia – be it rendering this result mute (replay), settling on the result (bad for T-Team), or forfeiting the result to T-Team if the FA can find evidence suggesting so (bad for JDT).
Regardless, all we can do is wait and see.
A situation that happens all over the world, tunnel skirmishes and fracas that only last 10 seconds and at best described as "handbags" to use a popular English term, has been given so much column inches, one would think there was a sighting of Elvis Presley.
It's a man's game, get on with it instead of whinging.
The derby
The northern derby of Kedah v Perlis turned out as expected given the league form of the two sides.
A 4-0 thrashing by the Kedahans meant our prediction was spot on once again.
Four different players getting their names on the scoresheet and a clean sheet made this outing one to remember in Alor Star for Dave Mitchell.
Reduan Abdullah's boys? Not so memorable.
Bottom of the Malaysian Premier League after two rounds of play, out of the FA Cup and conceding 10 goals in their previous four matches is a depressing sight – more so if you happen to be the manager of said squad.
Perlis need to find their feet fast, as a trip to Johor in the Premier League will provide a tricky but winnable fixture which Perlis need desperately.
Plantation boys
The shock result of the FA Cup was Super League's Sime Darby losing 1-0 to Premier League side Felda United.
Coming off a 3-0 drubbing in Kuching by a very assured Sarawak side, the home defeat for Sime Darby against Felda United in the FA Cup is a painful blow for Ismail Zakaria and a brilliant result for Felda's Irfan Bakti.
Still early days, but being second from bottom in the Super League surely isn't the most this Sime Darby team can offer and a visit from Selangor (themselves also reeling from a home defeat at the hands of Robert Alberts' Sarawak in the FA Cup) hopefully brings about a must-win atmosphere from both sides as they look to get their Super League campaigns back on track. – February 6, 2014.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.
Comments
Please refrain from nicknames or comments of a racist, sexist, personal, vulgar or derogatory nature, or you may risk being blocked from commenting in our website. We encourage commenters to use their real names as their username. As comments are moderated, they may not appear immediately or even on the same day you posted them. We also reserve the right to delete off-topic comments