Ivory Coast hitman Kipre Tchetche has finally ended his drought in the Malaysian Super League this season with a double strike that gave Terengganu a much deserved 2-1 win over Felda United in Friday’s Super League match at the Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Stadium in Kuala Terengganu.
Tchetche had gone nine matches without a goal to show for Terengganu in the league but he seems to have broken the jinx when he also scored for the Turtles in their come-from-behind 3-1 win over Kelantan United in an FA Cup third round match in Kota Bahru on Tuesday.
Felda United went into the match against Terengganu with a “giant killer” tag after knocking out Selangor out of the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 2-1 win over the Red Giants at Shah Alam Stadium.
However, Terengganu, after three successive defeats in the league were not in the mood to let the home fans down. With English-born skipper Lee Tuck in the thick of the action and veteran goalkeeper Suffian Abdul Rahman, a confident figure between the posts dictated terms.
Felda too had Norazlan Razali thwarting the Terengganu strikeforce as the last line of defense. The former international, however, could not stop Tchetche from hitting the target on 50 minutes – with an unstoppable shot.
Tchetche’s second came in the last minute of regulation time with a big dose of luck. Felda skipper Jasazrin Jamaluddin’s poor back pass was picked up by Tchetche and Norazaln was beaten for the second time.
Felda – known as The Fighters – did not give up and deep into added time
Kei Ikeda scored his team’s consolation goal.
Terengganu, after 10 matches, is sixth in the 12-team league with 12 points on goal difference while Felda remained in relation zone with only seven points – above bottom-placed Kuala Lumpur who have only four points from eight matches. – BY RIZAL ABDULLAH