TENGKU HAZMAN HOPES TFC MAINTAIN MOMENTUM, CONSISTENCY

MELAKA, Feb 22 (Bernama) -- Terengganu FC (TFC) interim head coach Tengku Hazman Raja Hassan hopes his men will continue to maintain their momentum and consistent performance in the next match after recording a 2-1 victory over Melaka FC in the Malaysia Super League at Hang Jebat Stadium here last night.

He also thanked all the players and praised their commitment and discipline who showed positive and enthusiastic action from the beginning of the game, thus ensuring that his team garnered three points.

He said that although many local players were fielded in the match, they managed to carry out their responsibilities well and fulfill the team's needs, besides seeing that his team now has many player options to prepare for the remaining matches.

"Early on, I stressed and told the players that we should 'kill the game' based on the number of chances created. We had eight or nine good chances, but failed to make the most of them.

"There were times when we looked a bit chaotic, but the players managed to absorb the pressure and they were able to do what I wanted in the last 10 minutes and stick to what was planned," he told reporters after the match here last night.

In the match, TFC opened the scoring in the 35th minute through Muhammad Akhyar Rashid who easily pushed in Gervane Kastaneer's pass after continuous pressure on the home team in the first half.

Melaka, however, managed to equalise through Dino Kalesic's long-range shot in the 73rd minute, but Muhamad Baqiuddin Shamsudin ensured Terengganu's victory when he easily beat Melaka goalkeeper Samuel Somerville in the 77th minute.

Elaborating further, Tengku Hazman said that the victory was also important in ensuring TFC's efforts to continue competing in the group top five in the league besides maintaining the points gap with the nearest challengers.

He said he took a game-by-game approach following the tight schedule this month which saw TFC go through five matches, while ensuring the players' fitness levels were at their best.

He said for the next match against Kuala Lumpur City FC, he hoped that the injured players could come back to strengthen the team, besides continuing to improve their game pattern and concentration to face the rest of the competition this season.

Meanwhile, Melaka FC head coach, E. Elavarasan admitted that his team needed to improve their focus throughout the 90 minutes of the game because small mistakes could lead to losses.

He said the team needed to recover quickly ahead of the second Malaysia Cup quarter-final match against Johor Darul Ta'zim FC (JDT) as well as the Super League match against Selangor FC which could be a difficult challenge as the opponent was in top form.

With the victory, Terengganu FC is now fifth in the Super League with 28 points, while Melaka FC remain in 12th position with 10 points.

-- BERNAMA