SHAH ALAM: Police are now five-time winners of the Agong's Cup after successfully defending their title with a 43-29 win over Johor in the final today (Oct 27).
The match was evenly balanced in the opening half with Police holding a marginal lead of 19-17 at the break at the UiTM Stadium in Shah Alam.
Police, however, came out strong in the second-half and asserted their authority. They were able to hold off a late fightback from Johor, who scored two tries in the final 10 minutes, to secure a relatively comfortable win.
Johor's Serupepeli Turuva was shown red in the 78th for a high tackle, which did not help their cause.
Police's tries were scored by Ameer Nasrul Zulkeffli, Taniela Senileba, Kitone Taliga and Hariz Hamidon (two). Amirul Aqil Kamsol coverted all five and also scored a penalty.
Johor's tries were scored by Keponi Paul, Akeripa Saveatama, Syarif Muzhaimey and Serupepeli. Fairuz AB Rahman coverted two and scored one penalty.
Police head coach K. Dinesvaran was all smiles after the final.
Dinesvaran has now won the Agong's Cup as both a player and a coach. He captained the Police side last year before retiring at the end of the year.
"The first-half was tough but I told the boys that we would do well if we can avoid making mistakes, and that is what they did, they kept it tight," said Dinesvaran.
"I think Johor's players looked a little shaky at times and we were able to capitalise on this.
"Of course, I am very happy to win the Agong's Cup for Police. This is also my first major task as a head coach. I am really proud of the whole team."
Police previously won the title in 1983, 1985, 1991 and last year.
Police defeated Perlis (29-10) in the quarterfinals and Terengganu (33-20) in the semi-finals last week.
Johor head coach Abdul Hanis Moktha was left to rue what could have been.
"I think we played quite well in the first-half, however, we let ourselves down in the second half," said Abdul Hanis.
"We lost focus for the first 10 minutes of the second-half and allowed Police to gain momentum. We took a long time to recover and when we did, it was already too late."
Johor had beaten Perak (30-10) in the quarterfinals and Selangor (24-17) in the semi-finals last week.
Terengganu defeated Selangor 43-39 in the third-place playoff which was also played at the UiTM Stadium today.