‘Kampung boys’ ready for big guns
Jerantut FC have vowed to fight tooth and nail after they have been drawn to face Malaysia Cup champions Perak in the FA Cup third round from April 9-10.
Jerantut laid claim to their berth in the third round after posting a 3-0 win over Johor Bahru FA last Tuesday, and will be counting on the support of their loyal fans when they host the mighty Bos Gaurus.
“We’ll be playing at home, and that’s important because we hope that we can count on our fans to be the 12th man when we take on Perak who are one of the top sides in the Malaysia League (M-League),” said coach Ahmad Nazri Mat Noor.
Nazri said it was unprecedented for their team to be able to reach this level of competition, which is why they will not be thinking about the result nor outcome when they face the two-time FA Cup (1990 and 2004) winners.
“For our kampung boys to be able to get to this stage of the competition is history in itself, but this will prove to be a valuable playing experience for them.
“We will fight to the death regardless of the result,” he said.
The two-time Sultan of Pahang Cup winners will take the necessary steps to prep for their tough third round encounter and will be banking on luck as well.
“I don’t want to be overly confident but we will fight and hope for the best,” he said.
The Pahang-based team are the only outfit from the fourth tier (M4) of the M-League, as Kelantan United, the only representative from the third tier (M3) have been drawn to face another two-time FA Cup winner in East Coast giants Terengganu.
The other surprise package to progress are UKM FC, and they are set to host three-time FA Cup champions (2006, 2014 and 2018) Pahang.
Five-time winners Selangor will host Felda United, while 2016 champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) will take on Datuk K. Rajagobal’s PKNS FC.
Kedah will host K. Devan’s PJ City FC, as Kuala Lumpur travel north to face Penang.
Perak SEDC’s opponents will be either Police or Sarawak who will replay their match that was postponed on Tuesday due to bad weather.
UKM v Pahang, Selangor v Felda Utd, Perak SEDC v Police/Sarawak, JDT v PKNS, Kelantan Utd v Terengganu, Jerantut FA v Perak, Kedah v PJ City FC, Penang v KL.