KELANTAN - DREAM COME TRUE

FIRST of all I would like to congratulate Kelantan and their fans for winning the Malaysia Cup for the very first time after 89 years. This is their fourth Malaysia Cup finals and they won it in great style after coming back from a goal down and scored two goals in the second half to clinch the title.

With the National Stadium Bukit Jalil was fill with thousand seas of red just three hours before the kick-off. The 2010 Malaysia Cup Final itself definitely promises a lot with two best teams in the country between defending champions Negri Sembilan and Kelantan going against each other for the coveted trophy for the second straight years running.

Eventually Kelantan lifted the trophy with a 2-1 win to bring the cup back home to Kota Bharu thanks to Hairuddin Omar terrific header and local lad Badhri Radzi who slammed in the winning goal in the 65th minute which proves enough to decide the match.

The atmosphere as the game kick-off was almost deafening when our and the only national World Cup referee in South Africa Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh was given the honour to officiate the match blew his first whistle. But Negri were not to be intimidated and give as good as they got in the opening stages which saw Idris Karim miss a golden opportunity with the goal at his mercy early in seventh minute.


Despite the defeat, credit must go to the defending champions Negri Sembilan for their effort and looks likely set to retain the title after the took a 1-0 lead through Shuhairain Abu Samah penalty kick. Wan Jamak side were dominant in the first half and could have easily double the scoreline.

But after the break its just a different story. Within 10 minutes spell when their captain's Aidil Abd Razak was injured and suddenly B.Sathianathan's side came into the picture. Former Negri Hairuddin Omar nodded in the important equaliser in the 59th minute to bring the Red Warriors back into the game.

An excellent delivery by Norsharul Idlan Talha on the right saw Hairuddin showing his flexibility rose above the Negri defenders to executed a perfect header past the diving Sani Anuar Kamsani on his left.

With Negri still in the state of shock struggling to reorganise their defence. They suffered another huge blow when again from the right side, Mohd Norfarhan deliver a through ball for Badhri to ran through a defender before blasting a powerful drive past the helpless Sani for the second time of the night.

Negri had few good looks at goal but either their effort was blocked or simply off target with the Kelantan defence stood firm to hang on to the scoreline until the final whistle. At last, the former national coach B.Sathianathan can afford a great smile, celebrating the win and grasp hold on the trophy thus being part of Kelantan football history after missing it for nearly a century. Long  live Malaysian football.