PETALING JAYA – By ERIC SAMUEL : Armed Forces, powered by their big signings, knocked defending champions Negri Sembilan out of the Malaysia Cup quarter-finals last night.

 The Premier League champions, who survived the ‘Group of Death’, tore apart the Deer with Marlon Alex James netting a brace in their 3-1 win in the return-leg at the Tuanku Abdul Rahman Stadium in Paroi last night. The soldiers advance to the semi-finals on a 6-3 aggregate, having won the first leg 3-2 at the Selayang Stadium on Friday.

 Negri, who had qualified for three consecutive Malaysia Cup finals since 2009, started off with a bang in front of a sell-out 35,000 crowd, with Alif Samsuddin opening accounts in the sixth minute.

 But Negri’s joy was short-lived as the visitors drew level through Mohd Aidil Zafuan four minutes later.

Having a crack: Selangor’s Mohd Rozaimi Abdul Rahman (third from left) takes a shot at the Johor FC goal during their Malaysia Cup quarter-final second leg match at the Shah Alam Stadium. -AHMAD IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star.

 Negri’s hopes of a fightback fizzled out after on-song Marlon hit a brace in the 43rd and 57th minutes to set the soldiers up for a semi-final clash against Lions XII.

 The Singaporeans downed Pahang 2-0 at the Jalan Besar Stadium last night to qualify 3-2 on aggregate. Shahril Ishak was the toast for the Lions when he scored a brace in the 35th and 80th minutes.

 Pahang’s fairy-tale run in the Malaysia Cup came to an abrupt end despite winning the first-leg 2-1 at the Darul Makmur Stadium.

 Selangor, 32-time Malaysia Cup champions, marched into the semi-finals with a 2-1 win over Johor FC at the Shah Alam Stadium.

 The Red Giants got their goals through S. Veenod (30th) and flanker Mohd Fitri Shazwan Raduwan (84th) while Johor FC replied through Fernando De Abreu (66th).

 Selangor go through 5-2 on aggregate.

 At the Sultan Mohd IV Stadium, Mohd Ghaddar Mahmoud’s last-gasp equaliser put Kelantan through to the semi-finals when they held Felda United FC to a 2-2 draw. The Red Warriors advanced 4-2 on aggregate, having won the away-leg 2-1 at the Hang Jebat Stadium.

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