Terengganu seal spot in Malaysia Cup quarter-finals

PETALING

JAYA: Terengganu went on a goal rampage to become the first team to book their place in the quarter-finals of the Malaysia Cup.

The Turtles, who finished fifth in the Super League this year, recovered from a slow start to fire home a 4-1 win over Felcra in a Group A match at the KLFA Stadium on Saturday.

Felcra drew the first blood when their Indonesian forward David Laly scored in the third minute to shock their opponents but Terengganu’s Ivorian forward Kipre Tchetche, who is their leading scorer, equalised in the

18th minute.

Then, there was no stopping the Turtles as Englishman Lee Tuck scored a hattrick in the 22nd, 61st and 79th minutes.

Terengganu, who are unbeaten in four matches, have an unassail- able 10 points from three wins and a draw and are followed by Perak in second spot.

Perak defeated Kuala Lumpur 1-0 through a sensational goal by skipper Mohd Nasir Basharuddin to garner seven points from two wins, a draw and a loss.

Kuala Lumpur and Felcra have three and two points respectively and will not be able to overtake Terengganu, with another two matches remaining.

Defending champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) also put their campaign back on track to reach the quarter- finals by edging Kelantan through a solitary goal in the 65th minute from Argentinian Fernando Marquez in a Group C match at the Larkin Stadium.

The Southern Tigers’ win was a sweet revenge as they had lost by a similar margin in their away match to Kelantan on Aug 17.

The homesters dominated the game but the young Red Warriors team did well in the defence before the solitary goal came from Marquez, who beat the offside trap to score past keeper Faridzuean Kamaruddin.

JDT, who suffered a shock loss to MIFA in their opening game, are now leading the group with six points with a better goal difference.

MIFA are second with two wins and a loss while Kelantan and Kedah have four points each.