A LATE strike by Mohd Asrul Arif off a free kick gave Selangor a precious point as they battled to a 1-1 draw against Negri Sembilan in a Ministry of Education Football League (MEFL) Under-17 Group A match at Padang C UiTM in Shah Alam on Saturday.

In an evenly contested match, Negri Sembilan took the lead in the 64th minute with a delightful goal by Rizal Azani Rahidin.

The visitors looked set to take full points as Selangor's poor finishing once again nearly proved costly.

However, Selangor who beat Malacca 2-1 away for the first win in the league last week, were rewarded for their perseverance when they earned a free kick in the 86th minute and Mohd Asrul made it count.

In Group B matches, Sarawak thumped Malacca 6-0 at the State Stadium in Kuching, Johor edged Terengganu 3-2 at the Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Stadium in Kuala Terengganu, while Pahang outgunned Bukit Jalil Sports School 2-0 in Kuantan.
In Group A, Kelantan continued with their winning ways when they thrashed Kuala Lumpur 5-1 at the Cochrane Sports Excellence Centre. Perlis could only manage a 2-2 draw against Penang in Kangar while Sabah and Perak battled to goalless draw in Keningau.

Bandar Penawar Sports School scored a convincing 3-0 win over Pahang to go to the top of Group B in the Under-14 league with 10 points - two more than Johor, who came back from two goals down to share points with hosts Terengganu. In Kuching, Sarawak ran out 4-2 winners over Malacca and Selangor beat neighbours Negri Sembilan 2-0 in Shah Alam.

All the three Group A matches ended in deadlocked with Sabah sharing points with Perak (1-1), hosts Perlis were held 2-2 by Penang, while the KL-Kelantan match ended goalless.

The MEFL is organised with the cooperation of 100PLUS, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM).

RESULTS -- Under-14:

GROUP A: Sabah 1 Perak 1; Perlis 2 Penang 2; Kuala Lumpur 0 Kelantan 0

GROUP B: Sarawak 4 Malacca 2; Terengganu 2 Johor 2; Selangor 2 Negeri Sembilan 0; SSBP 3 Pahang 0

Under-17:

GROUP A: Sabah 0 Perak 0; Perlis 2 Penang 2; Kuala Lumpur 1 Kelantan 5

GROUP B: Sarawak 6 Malacca 0; Terengganu 2 Johor 3; Selangor 1 Negeri Sembilan 1; SSBJ 0 Pahang 2