T-Team’s Abd Latiff Suhaimi (left) tussling for the ball with Sime Darby’s Mohd Fadzli Saari during their FA Cup second round match Tuesday. — ZABIDI TUSIN / The Star

By ERIC SAMUEL – PETALING JAYA: Premier League outfits Sime Darby FC are making heads turn in the FA Cup competition again.

Sime Darby made history last year by becoming the first club to make the final since the tournament’s inception in 1990.

And they did it in style, too – ousting three top flight teams (Sabah, Johor FC and defending champions Terengganu) en route to reaching the final, where they lost 1-0 to Kelantan.

This year, they are through to the quarter-finals after scoring an upset 1-0 win over Super League side T-Team at the Sultan Ismail Stadium in Kuala Terengganu yesterday.

Sime Darby, who had a bye in the first round, can thank former Terengganu skipper Marzuki Yusof for scoring an own goal in the 68th minute.

Sime Darby coach Ismail Zakaria, who led the team to the historic FA Cup final, praised his men for a job well done.

“Nothing is impossible. We were under pressure at the start but we came back strongly after the break. We had a couple of sitters and should have won by a more convincing margin,” said Ismail.

In another early match, Terengganu cruised into the last eight thanks to on-form striker Mohd Ashaari Shamsuddin, who scored a brace in the Turtles’ 3-0 win over FAM Cup side Penang at the City Stadium.

Ashaari was on target in the second and 60th minutes while Khairul Ramadhan added the third in the 77th minute.

Negri Sembilan are also through to the quarter-finals after a 2-0 win over Pos Malaysia at the Selayang Stadium. Fauzie Nan (26th) and Rashid Mahmud (44th) were the scorers.

Meanwhile, the Kelantan-PKNS FC match has been postponed due to bad weather.

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