After the big bang of an introduction in the Piala Jaya Ansara 2005, Ansara Muar went down againts Ansara Kuantan. To make things worse, Ceruud, the forward we highly rely on to get our goals limped out of the game with a knee injury.
It was a game of high intensity. Kuantan, playing their very first game in the tournament, a team known to have brought in highly rated players from around Liga-A. They started the game in attacking mode. The first 10 minues, it was Kuantan who made all the attacking moves. Muar, on the other hand, sat back and tried to absorb all the pressure from Kuantan.
Kuantan's determination to get an early goal proved successful. They were presented with a penalty kick when Muar's last man, brought down Kuantan's striker in the box. After merely 5 minutes into the game, from the penalty spot, Kuantan lead the game. Muar 0 - Kuantan 1.
Taking advantage of their attacking momentum, Kuantan pressed further into Muar's area. However, Muar's defence were able to absorb all of Kuantan's attempts at goal. Muar also made some advances into Kuantan's end of the field. As Kuantan pushed more people into Muar's half of the field, Muar depended on long passes from defense and quick counter attacks to put pressure on the Kuantan defence. Cerrud, Fadhli, Hasrul, and Joe all had chances at levelling the score but somehow missed their target.
Half way thorugh the first half, Kuantan was penalized. They had a player sent off for a red card offense (I don't really know why, though). Thus Kuantan had to play with only 10 men. This, allowed Muar to push into the Kuantan half more often. The score stayed at Muar 0 - Kuantan 1 at half time.
The second half started very much alike to the earlier half. Muar however, gained possession time and made more advances into Kuantan's penalty box. 15 minutes into the half, Muar managed to level the score. Off a throw in from the left, Joe latched onto the ball and unleashed a swerving volley directly towards the goal. The Kuantan goal keeper was left rooted, and was only capable of watching the ball hitting the net. Joe's second for the season. Muar 1 - Kuantan 1.
The game seemed to be destined for a tie. Both teams were not able to find the net with quite a number of missed chances. However, late in the game, perhaps, into the time added on, Muar defensive unit made a huge blunder. They lost the ball a few yards off the penalty box. The blunder presented Kuantan's striker with a one on one situation with Muar's goal keeper. A chance not to be missed by any. Thus, Muar 1 - Kuantan 2.
Up next, will be a match against Ansara KT. The match will be played on February 26th in UKM. This game against KT will be the deciding match. We'll have to win to ensure our passage into the final. So, let's see some support from our fans (do we have any?).
