24 Aug 2006

100PLUS SUPER CUP Under-18 Championship - National Finals

24th August, 2006 (SUNGAI PETANI) – Pulau Pinang's SMK Guar Perahu installed themselves as the firm favourites for the title when they convincingly won both their matches in Group C of the 100PLUS Super Cup Under-18 Championship national finals here in Sungai Petani.

The islanders won their opening game in the morning with a 2-0 victory over Negeri Sembilan's SM Tengku Ampuan Durah before disposing of Terengganu's SM Teknik Besut 1-0 in their second match.

Two goals in the second half through Mohd Zaim Mokhtar in the 35th and Mohd Fitri Abu Hassan in the 60th minute was enough for them to collect full points.

In their second match in the afternoon, Pulau Pinang came up against a resilient Terengganu side before scoring a 1-0 win with Mohd Ikram Ibrahim unleashing a swerving shot from close range three minutes to the end.

"Terengganu was better in terms of physique and organisation and considering that we were playing in the toughest group of the tournament, we had to be a little cautious," said SMK Guar Perahu head coach Md. Zaid Yahya.

"But we studied Terengganu's game (when they beat Selangor's SMK Seksyen 10, Kota Damansara 3-1 earlier) and we found areas which we could exploit.

"The two victories have put us in a better frame of mind for the last group match tomorrow (against Selangor)."

With Selangor already out of contention following their two losses today, the match between Negeri Sembilan and Terengganu will decide which team will join Pulau Pinang in the quarter-finals on Saturday.

The 100PLUS Super Cup is organised with the close cooperation of the Majlis Sukan Sekolah Malaysia and supported by the FA of Malaysia.

RESULTS

GROUP A: Kelantan (Maktab Sultan Ismail) drew with Perak (SM Anderson) 1-1, Kedah (SMK Kulim) drew with Kelantan 1-1

GROUP B: Perlis (SMK Syed Alwi) bt Sabah (SMK Keningau 2) 1-0, Kuala Lumpur (SMK Raja Abdullah) bt Melaka (SMK Seri Mahkota) 4-2, Kuala Lumpur bt Sabah 3-1, Perlis bt Melaka 4-1

GROUP C: Negeri Sembilan (SMK Tengku Ampuan Durah) bt Pulau Pinang (SMK Guar Perahu) 2-0, Terengganu (SM Teknik Besut) bt Selangor (SMK Seksyen 10 Kota Damansara) 3-1, Negeri Sembilan bt Selangor 5-0, Pulau Pinang bt Terengganu 1-0

GROUP D: Labuan (SMK Labuan) bt Sarawak (SMK Balaga) 2-1, Johor (SMK Jalan Joned, Muar) bt Pahang (SMK Dato' Mat, Pekan) 1-0


TOMORROW'S FIXTURES (25th August 2006, all matches at the Maktab Perguruan Sultan Abdul Halim unless indicated otherwise)

GROUP A: Perak vs Kedah (7.45am at SMK Khir Johari, Sungai Petani)

GROUP B (7.45am): Sabah vs Melaka, Kuala Lumpur vs Perlis

GROUP C (9am): Negeri Sembilan vs Terengganu, Selangor vs Pulau Pinang

GROUP D (10.15am): Sarawak vs Pahang, Johor vs Labuan