Sarawak seemed to have forgotten their teeth when they took Kedah tonight, with the Premier League side enjoying the full three points when full time was concluded.
Playing in front of their massive home crowd, the Crocs showed they were going all out for the win as they hammered their attacking arsenal towards the Kedahan goal mouth which was guarded by former Sarawak goalkeeper Saiful Amar Sudar.
Within the first ten minutes, the local fans could hardly feel the comfort of the stadium seats as Rashid Aya, Joseph Kalang, S Chanturu and Ryan Griffith ran riots in the Kedah penalty box.
Joseph missed numerous close chances, including a sure goal, but his shot was too soft to even trouble Saiful.
Ryan was also unable to convert a wonderful pass in the box as his turning kick was block for a fruitless corner.
Chanturu was then left red faced as he too squandered a golden opportunity with his shot wide off target despite the absence of any real threat.
Another chance also went begging with Ryan opening up the ball to Joseph, but Joseph’s shot went wide despite Chanturu having a better angle to shot from.
Junior Eldstal also got involved in action moments later but his pass to Ryan was too wide for the Australian to tap in.
The attacking home side soon found themselves stunned when fast running Namgung Woong beat the offside trap, to push a fast grounder which Farhan easily blasted in past Sani Anuar Kamsani in the 32nd minute.
Sarawak continued their raid on for the equalizing goal, but they also continued to fail converting the chances made available until the half time.
When the game restarted after the break, the Crocs continued their attempts for an equalizer and were rewarded handsomely by Ryan in the 50th minute.
The goal started with a fluid run from the left, with a cross into the box finding Ryan who made no mistake to gallantly do a scissors kick which bounced in the goal, erupting Stadium Negeri with delight.
But the one goal was far from enough as the Crocs powered more efficient attacks on their visiting opponent, forcing the Kedahan side to defend in numbers.
Fortunately for Kedah, the Crocs failed to convert their impressive chances with Junior narrowly missing the mark from his long range shot, Joseph shooting wildly above the bar, and Ryan unable to escape his markers.
Chanturu which was later substituted for Ashri Chuchu also failed to make much of an impact with the former Kelantan player unable to outrun his marker. Akmal Rizal which came in for Rashid Aya was also having a silent night with the former national player unable to hold the ball long enough to make an accurate shot on goal.
With the match looking to end all square, a free kick by Billy Mehmet crushed the hopes of 22,000 Sarawak fans as the direct free kick was past the Sarawak wall, and into the back of the net, giving Kedah their first win in the Malaysia Cup.
FINAL SCORE: Sarawak 1-2 Kedah
