Giants win lottery
Selangor pip Sabah to the title in shootout
SELANGOR 0 SABAH 0 (Selangor 5-4 on penalties)
Reports by Y.P. Sivam and S.T. Arasu
SHAH ALAM: It went right down the wire, goalless all the way. And finally, it was a very costly penalty miss by Sabah's No. 4, Burhan Ajui, that saw Selangor lift the Malaysia Cup for a second consecutive time at the Shah Alam Stadium last night.
Selangor had missed a penalty, too, when Mehmet Durakovic saw his shot saved by Sabah's goalkeeper Khairul Azman Mohamed a minute into sudden-death extra time.
But Khairul was beaten all five times in the shootout. All the other Sabah takers got it right. But Burhan's miss destroyed Sabah's hopes.
If the match proper was exciting, extra-time was almost breathtaking, with Selangor throwing all they had at Sabah.
And one man stood in their way. Man-of-the-match seemed invincible. After the penalty save, he snatched the ball off Azman Adnan's feet, he tipped the ball over from a point-blank header from Mustaca Cristian, he did everything just right.
Even when he did not, luck was on his side. Mehmet Durakovic sent in a racking shot which had Khairul beaten but bounced off the upright and sailed across the goalmouth and into play.
Selangor coach Ken Worden, as promised, opted for an attacking line-up. Shahrin Majid and Azman were in attack supported by Mubin Mokhtar, K. Sanbagamaran and Cristian.
And Selangor, the defending champions went looking for an early goal.
The Red Giants could have taken the lead in the eighth minute. Azman managed to beat Jelius Ating on the right and passed to Cristian but the Romanian's shot from close range went out.
In the absence of Bobby Chua, Sabah coach Ronald Smith had Jekerison Kilan pairing off with Yap Wai Loon in midfield. But the duo were unable to take charge and Selangor were having a field day.
Selangor rightback Assrof Hanafiah had a good game with his overlapping runs and in the 17th minute, the lanky defender curled a shot only to see Khairul tipped it over.
Two minutes later, Sabah had a golden chance. Scott Ollerenshaw, the season Golden Boot winner, beat Shahril on the left and sent a stiff grounder that went inches wide.
The Selangor fans were on their feet in the 25th minute as Cristian raced on the left and sent a low cross. But Shahrin stood watching and the ball rolled away.
The second half resumed with Sabah taking over the initiative to attack. But the Selangor defence were not prepared to give in and held fast. The match swung from one end to other.
Ollerenshaw with support from Mohamed Jaya Kassim and Suharmin Yusof did cause some problems to the Selangor defence. But goalkeeper Yap Kam Choon was always at the right place to deny the Sabahans.
In the 68th minute Cristian had the ball in the Sabah net after he had headed in a Shahrin cross. But referee V.K.S. Sinnaya disallowed it for offside.
Smith brought in Jainin Tinin and Ramlan Silamat for Jekerison and Harun Laban respectively and Worden replaced Sanbagamaran with Rusdi Suparman.
The action continued and there were several anxious moments for both Khairul and Kam Choon but no goal.
And for a second consecutive year, the final went into extra-time. Only this time, there was no goal in sudden-death. Instead, Sabah had to endure the pain of a shootout defeat.
Selangor: Yap Kam Choon, Mehmet Durakovic, Ismail Ibrahim, Talib Sulaiman, Shahril Arsat, Assrof Hanafiah, Mustaca Cristian, K. Sanbagamaran (Rusdi Suparman), Mubin Mokhtar, Azman Adnan, Shahrin Majid.
Sabah: Khairul Azman Mohamed, Veselin Kovacevic, Jekerison Kilan (Jainin
Tinin), Burhan Ajui, Harun Laban (Ramlan Silamat), Jelius Ating, Abdullah
Awang Adi, Yap Wai Loon, Mohamed Jaya Kassim, Scott Ollerenshaw,
Suharmin Yusof.
