Selangor coach Irfan Bakti happy about ending poor record against T-Team

It was a happy return to Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Stadium in Kuala Terengganu on Saturday for Irfan Bakti.

Not only did the Selangor coach manage to end his team's four-match winless run against T-Team with a 2-1 victory on Saturday, he also walked away with his head held high.

Irfan said most T-Team fans, who are also Terengganu supporters, did not blame him for leaving Terengganu soon after the Malaysia Cup final last season.

"They knew what was going on and in their eyes, I was not a traitor," said the former Terengganu coach who brought home the FA Cup, finished second in the Super League and became Malaysia Cup runners-up last year.

Prior to the away trip, the Kelantan-born coach said he knew there would not be a hostile reception for him in Kuala Terengganu but admitted it would be nice to win on his return to the ground he called home for two seasons.

His wish came true when Ramez Dayoub scored from the penalty spot after 36 minutes and Azidan Sarudin headed in the winner 13 minutes from time after Zairo Anuar Zailani had equalised, also from a spotkick, just three minutes after the break.

Irfan said it was an important win for Selangor who, after a dismal start, needed a spark to light up their season again.

"The jinx against T-Team has been broken at last and this is a perfect turning point for us to start our climb up the league table.

"It is still early days in the league and we are now fifth, five points from leaders Kelantan after five matches," said Irfan, who plans to have a new foreign striker in his team when LionsXII FC come visiting on Feb 7.

Meanwhile, T-Team coach Yunus Alif said it was unfortunate to lose striker Zachariah Simukonda to an ankle injury early in the second half.

"He won us the penalty when Dayoub brought him down in the penalty box but he went out injured soon after when were were on a good run," said Yunus.

"We still have problems upfront where our strikers are not clinical enough. We need to do something fast before our next match away to Negri Sembilan."   Yunus said his team were taught valuable lessons in their two consecutive losses, first to Terengganu and then to Selangor.

"Terengganu and Selangor play good football and we were not quite ready for them after playing Kedah, Kuala Lumpur and Sabah earlier.

"Now they should know that they cannot afford to make the tiniest of mistakes when playing teams like Terengganu and Selangor or they will pay heavy price."