Kedah's reign almost over

2009/10/10

By Devinder Singhdevinder@nst.com.my

SELANGOR are a point away from joining Kelantan in the Malaysia Cup quarter-finals as defending champions Kedah battle to avoid elimination in the penultimate round of group matches today.

Six other teams are also well-placed to advance to the last eight and it is possible that the entire quarter-final lineup could be confirmed after today's action.

KL Plus and Perlis will seal the top two spots in Group A today with away wins over Malacca and Pahang respectively as would Negri Sembilan and Terengganu in Group B if they come away from Johor and Sarawak respectively with three points.

Group C too could be decided if Johor FC and Perak register victories against UPB-MyTeam and Kuala Lumpur respectively.

The three best runners-up join the group winners in the quarter-finals which means the second placed team in Groups D and E are likely to miss out.

If the results in Groups A, B and C go according to form, those teams will all have a minimum of 12 points.

This will eliminate Kedah no matter what the 2007 and 2008 champions do against Kelantan, who have already won Group E, at the Darulaman Stadium.

With fate out of their hands, Kedah coach Azraai Khor Abdullah knows even if his team beat an under-strength Kelantan it would mean little.

It would also be the end of the road for Penang, who are level on four points with Kedah, even if they beat Armed Forces at the City Stadium.

Kelantan coach B. Sathianathan is expected to rest several regulars after securing qualification and give other players a chance to stake a place in the first team.

Selangor coach K. Devan, however, can afford no such luxury when his team go to Selayang looking for the one point they need against Police in Group D.

But with Safee Sali and Amri Yahyah, each with four goals in the Malaysia Cup, on hot goal scoring form, it is difficult to see anything other than a win for the Super League and FA Cup champions.

However, it is a different story for Kuala Muda Naza, second in Group D on six points, as anything less than a win against Sabah in Tawau will result in their elimination from the quarter-final reckoning.

Should Sabah hold or beat Kuala Muda, it could end all permutations for the identity of the quarter-finalists and render the final group matches largely academic.

The only thing that would be left to be decided on Tuesday then would be the quarter-final match ups.