The Young Lions’ cherished dreams of reaching the Malaysian FA Cup final were painfully dashed after a 0-2 loss in the second leg semi-final to Perlis.

The result in Kangar, inspired by Zambian import Zacharia Simukonda, saw the Malaysian Super League side overturn a first-leg 2-3 deficit and go through 4-3 on aggregate.

A night that had promised to be a great party for the Singaporean invitees ended in cruelly tearful fashion, compounded by the late ejection of Qiu Li for arguing too much with the referee.

But in the end, they were unhinged by neither the Chinese striker’s moment of blind impetuosity nor Simukonda’s individual brilliance. It was the team’s collective naivety and inadequacy to see adversity even in the slender advantage they took north.

The Northern Lions pulled off a surprise even before the start of the match, when they revealed that former Malaysia national coach Abdul Rahman Ibrahim would sit out this one and let assistant Manja Man take charge for the evening.

The stand-in promptly made his intentions obvious from the moment he named his starting lineup, picking the attack-minded Simukonda ahead of centreback Kamuzati Kabwe, who had played in the first leg.

Simukonda justified his inclusion when he scored to complete a 12th minute break, strike partner Phillimon Chipeta finding himself in plenty of space left open by Ismail Yunos, surprisingly playing at rightback as coach Fandi Ahmad shuffled his defence.

The goal gave the hosts plenty of encouragement, and they pressed on firmly for the vital second. But Muhd Lamin Conteh, who had no luck against Fadhil Salim in the first leg from the penalty spot, had a slow start to the evening after missing several gilt-edged chances.

With Conteh regularly frustrated, Perlis often had to turn to Simukonda for inspiration, and the Zambian did very well to draw several free kicks in dangerous positions throughout the first half.

The Young Lions, shorn of the suspended Isa Halim and the injured Shi Jiayi, found themselves short on strength in midfield, leaving the backline heavily worked for much of the evening.

They were finally undone by Conteh, who turned past his tired marker to meet Manzoor Azwira’s pass in the 48th minute and took his shot just beyond Fadhil to make it 2-0.

Stung into action, the Young Lions flung themselves forward in a chase for the dream, Syed Thaha and Shukor Zailan entering the fray in a bid to introduce new ideas.

But that attacking enterprise left the visitors with holes aplenty at the back, and they were fortunate to be let off in the 59th minute when Chipeta rolled his shot just shy of the post amid confusion in the Young Lions defence.

Fadhil then had to be at his spectacular best to deny Conteh from 25 yards with a flying save, following a spell of pressure inside the Young Lions box that saw three consecutive shots cleared.

Azi Shahril Azmi then crashed a curler against the upright with Fadhil rooted, as Fandi continued to urge his side into finding the goal they needed to force extra-time.

Ridhuan Muhammad came very close to setting up a glorious opportunity, after a one-two with Qiu put him into space on the right for a low cross that was delivered too close to goalkeeper Mohd Amran Omar.

But Qiu was routinely getting frustrated by several tricky calls against him, and an outburst against the referee in the 83rd minute proved far too costly as he was twice shown the yellow card within 10 seconds.

And when the burly target-man left the field still clearly seething, so too did the Young Lions’ chances of reaching Bukit Jalil, as they still proved not tough enough, not cunning enough to cut it against the wily Malaysian Super League side.

Perlis: Mohd Amran Omar, Madzalan Emoi, Azizi Mat Rose, Shariman Che Omar, Adrien Jurad Chamrong, Feriza Ismail, Muhd Lamin Conteh, Azi Shahril Azmi, Manzoor Azwira (Nazaruddin Zain 84th), Zacharia Simukonda, Phillimon Chipeta (Efendi Abdul Malek 88th).

Young Lions: Fadhil Salim, Ismail Yunos (Shukor Zailan 58th), Precious Emuejeraye, Shariff Abdul Samat, Juma’at Jantan, Ridhuan Muhammad, Shahril Ishak, Hamqammal Shah, Fazrul Nawaz (Syed Thaha 53rd), Qiu Li, Khairul Amri