Ain’t over till it’s over
Red Warriors aim to beat Melaka to stay in top flight
PETALING JAYA: East Coast giants Kelantan are treading on thin ice.
The 2012 treble winners – Super League, FA Cup and Malaysia Cup – are in danger of being relegated to the Premier League next season.
The Red Warriors have dropped to 11th spot in the 12-team Super League standings after the 0-0 draw against PKNS in their penultimate fixture at the Sultan Mohd IV Stadium in Kota Baru on Wednesday.
The bottom two teams will be relegated.
Basement side Penang, on 12 points, have already been demoted to the Premier League with one match to go.
That leaves three teams – T-Team (22pts), Sarawak (20pts) and Kelantan (19pts) – fighting to avoid joining Penang in the second tier of the M-League.
The last round of matches will be held on Oct 28.
Kelantan coach Zahasmi Ismail is aware that their destiny is in their own hands, saying they must beat Melaka in their last game to stay in the top flight.
“A win will be enough to keep us in the Super League as T-Team will be up against Sarawak in Kuching on Oct 28.
“There is still hope. The players will resume training next week to prepare for the crucial game against Melaka,” said Zahasmi.
The coach admitted that they’ve been badly hit by the loss of top goal poacher Mohamed Ghaddar, who joined Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim during the second transfer window in June.
“We have to accept our fate because this is the best set of play- ers we have right now. It’s difficult to find an able replacement for Ghaddar in such a short period. He had scored 18 goals for us before he left.
“Our problem is our poor finish- ing. To make matters worse, we were also docked points (for not paying players’ salary),” said Zahasmi, who has pledged to see Kelantan maintain their top-tier status next season.