Daily Express
Kota Kinabalu: The Sabah President Cup squad turned on the power
in the second half to thrash Melaka 4-0 at the Likas Stadium on
Thursday evening.
The rain-interrupted match which was twice abandoned in the first 27
minutes saw the home team managing to score only a goal in the first
half.
It was difficult for both sets of players as the slippery pitch failed
to generate any swift movement from both teams. It was not until the
second restart that Sabah managed to test the Melaka keeper with several
long range shots and it was Zackalani Antanom who unlocked the deadlock
with a strike in the 37th minute.
The second half was barely a minute on the clock when a corner taken by
Sabri Sahar evaded all the Melaka players allowing Dendy Lowa the
easiest of task to tap in from close range.
Sabah missed several sitters after the goal and it was not until the
introduction of top scorer Zulmansyah Aling that they finally added
another goal.
The Sandakan lad who was only called in to replace Eyo Mathew few
minutes earlier unleashed a beauty with his first touch that hit the
crossbar and crossed the line with the keeper well beaten in the 59th
minute.
Maxsius Musa added another identical goal in the 80th minute to score
Sabah's biggest winning margin in the competition so far.
Team Manager Juil Nuatim who was a bit worried in the first half was delighted with the win at the end.
"We could have gone two up before the match was stopped for the first
time. With the slippery condition, I was a bit worried that our players
may not be able to play their best. Luckily they passed the test with
flying colours and I am very happy for them."
"I expected our boys to win the match comfortably after the 4-1 result
in the earlier round but I was also surprised that Melaka fielded a
different set of players altogether and I was made to understand that
these are their Sukma squad players."
Coach Johnny Dominicus was also pleased with the final outcome and the three points earned.
"It wasn't easy to play in that condition especially with the match
twice abandoned and the strong wind condition. So to win by four goals
was a very good result under the circumstances although it could have
been more."
The victory was Sabah's 13th in the campaign so far and they are currently top of Group A with 41 points.
Their next match will be another home tie against the Bukit Jalil Sports School next Monday (April 9).
