PKNP striker Sharel bullish after hattrick against Felda
PETALING JAYA: Perak State Development Corporation (PKNP) hotshot striker Shahrel Fikri Fauzi reckons he played his best game of the season in the 3-1 win over Felda United in the first leg of the Malaysia Cup quarter-finals.
The 22-year-old scored his first career hattrick with goals in the 11th, 45th and 68th minutes at the Tun Abdul Razak Stadium in Jengka on Friday.
The Fighters’ consolation goal was scored by Hadin Azman in the 76th minute.
Shahrel admitted that he was pleasantly surprised with his hattrick against a strong Super League side like Felda.
What makes his feat more surprising is that this was the first time that the team had played on an artificial pitch this season.
“As underdogs, you don’t go into a match against a Super League team targeting to get a hattrick.
“Still, it feels good to score against them. It’s definitely a massive confidence-booster.
“I may have scored the goals, but the win is a team effort. We trained on an artificial turf in Damansara on Wednesday before having our one-hour official training at the Tun Abdul Razak Stadium on Thursday.
“The ball travels faster on an artificial turf but we all managed to adapt despite playing on it for the first time,” said Shahrel, who has now scored 19 goals in all competition this season.
He admitted that the return leg would be a different game and that PKNP need to be wary of a Felda fightback at the Ipoh Stadium in Perak on Sept 24.
“The two-goal cushion is good, but it doesn’t mean that the tie is over.
“Felda are strong and we can’t take them for granted in the second leg,” he said.
He also pointed out that the team had learned their lesson from the 6-0 mauling by Pahang in their Malaysia Cup Group A match on Aug 1.
“Our fairy tale run in the Malaysia Cup is made possible from that defeat.
“It made our resolve stronger and we all worked harder to improve.
“We now want to continue our run until the final.”