1. Look Beneath The Scoreline
Cyberjaya Teleflow came away with a victory over debutants Kajang SA Bujangga, but there’s a deeper story within the 3-2 scoreline than meets the eye. Teleflow pounced early with a header by striker Razzmir Ashraf, who had a terrific day on the field, from point-blank and they really should’ve been out of sight by the time the first half ended with so many chances. Yet incredibly, they only have a goal to show for it. So you can imagine the relief they have when they scored two quickfire goals with Razzmir scoring the 2nd and setting up Hakeem Badri for the 3rd after 48 minutes with Razzmir earning the Man-Of-The-Match award
But something within Bujangga woke up after the 3rd goal and they started attacking more and more with the momentum in their favour. They had to wait until the 65th minute for their efforts to pay off when Saiful Azman puts away his chance. Then three minutes later, a handball against Teleflow captain Fairuz Abdul Aziz saw striker Khairul Fitri scoring the resultant penalty to stir up hope within Bujangga to steal a point.
But that was as good as it got for them. Bujangga’s comeback attempt sadly fell short while Teleflow can finally breathe easily. Even so, after how this match went, never write off Bujangga until it’s over
2. Awesome Alif
Kg Bharu Boss FC capped off a great performance on Saturday to trounce fellow SCL debutants Petaling PNSB 4-0. A driving force in their midfield, Alif Izwan was important in a big win for Boss FC with a goal and two assists. Building on Azrul Razman’s headed opener from a corner, Boss FC was able to launch a counterattack before half-time when Alif bombed forward to receive Syakimi’s through-pass, then rounded the keeper superbly and converted an easy chance to make it 2-0.
Shortly after half-time, Alif from his own half became the provider when he saw Muhd Nur Affandi’s defence-breaking run down the right and played an excellent long ball moments before the winger went all the way to score. Then within the final ten minutes from a corner, Alif played a through pass inside the box to find substitute Azizie Hamid for the fourth. The vision and creativity of Alif are some key factors in Boss FC’s victory.
3. Two Tales Of Debutants
That match isn’t the only match that pits two SCL debutants. Perlima United Klang and Laksamana 30 Gombak took on each other in the tournament opener with Perlima taking Laksamana to its own sword with a resounding 3-0 win. Nor Hakim Roslan was the Man-Of-The-Match with two goals to his name. First by scoring early after pouncing on a defensive error. And then he scored the third goal by muscling off a defender to receive a long free-kick from inside Perlima’s own half with Ilyia Fitri scoring in between following Azizy Askaran’s lightning run on the right.
It was bad enough Laksamana didn’t hold themselves high in defending, they also mess up offensively when they wasted a few golden attacks of their own. A day to remember for Perlima, but it’s also clearly a day to forget for Laksamana.
4. Mixed Bag For The Originals
SA Klasiko, KRU Port Klang, Klang Southern FC are the only three teams that competed in the inaugural SCL in 2016 that is in the 2021 edition. Five years on and they remained as competitive as ever. SA Klasiko took their chances well against a tough MPKJ FC side. New faces Denial Haziq and Syazwan Nasruddin were the goalscorers in Klasiko’s 2-0 win, but it was workhorse full-back R. Kumarendran who was the key man, being the assistor for the goals as well as influential down on the left flank.
As for Southern who returned to the SCL having missed out on the 2019 edition, they had to rely on a penalty by Shahrul Afif to earn a slim 1-0 win. They had to work hard to preserve the lead to frustrate ISMA Shah Alam’s efforts, especially in the 2nd half. Although they too have their fair share of chances with Haiqal Johari, who stood out by storming down the wings, perhaps should’ve scored the opener much earlier in the first half. But in the end, they held firm to weather the 2nd half storm while ISMA were left to rue their wasted attacks with half-time substitute Azrein Iqwan being the answer to Southern’s Haiqal as their own standout performer.
Unfortunately, KRU Port Klang couldn’t join them in celebrating a win of their own. A combination of bad luck, lacklustre finishing and a Man-Of-The-Match performance by Gombak FA-MPAJ keeper Aiman Arif kept out a relentless KRU and not even Aqmar Alias’ red card late in the match helped KRU as Gombak FA earned a hardworking point
5. Champions Laboured
2018 Champions Puchong Fuerza is the only former champion in this competition. But they struggled to create anything worthwhile until late on in the game, looking vastly different compared to their free-scoring 2019 season. Alongside their opponents, MP Klang, both sides didn’t create anything worth troubling each other’s keepers.
The match needed something special and it was Puchong’s mainstay striker Hakim Zainal who provided it eight minutes from injury time. Nasrullah Zainal from the right saw Hakim’s run down the middle and the striker duly lobbed the ball gracefully over the keeper for the only goal of the match. Hakim, who was part of Puchong’s 2018 championship season and the free-scoring 2019 team, has shown he still remains as quality as ever for Puchong Fuerza.
