Full points for Juniors

New Sabah Times

REXJESON … the Sabahawks Junior No 9 scores the solitary goal of the match.

KOTA KINABALU: Sabahawks Juniors did what their Seniors could not do by chalking up all three points on the road after nicking a 1-0 win over Kelantan at the Sultan Mohamad IV Stadium in Kota Bharu yesterday. This was also their first win of the season after being held to a one-all draw by Melaka in the opener last week.

 Yesterday, a 21st minute effort by striker Rexjeson Pitirus was enough to see the Justin Ganai boys returning home with a big smile. For the record, the State Senior squad has yet to pick a single point on the road from their first two away matches thus far this season after going down to KL Sime Darby FC (3-1) and Kuala Lumpur (3-2).

 But their Junior counterparts did it in their first attempt. Rexjeson scored the opener after being put through by striking partner Eyo Matthew. He coolly defeated the Kelantan custodian in a one-on-one situation. Despite the win, head coach Justin said there is still plenty of work to be done on the team.

 “It was an equally contested tie, and fortunately we managed to take our chances well. “We had a better first half, but in the second, things got a little bit more difficult, and obviously it was because they were looking for the equaliser. “Overall, I’m quite happy. We got all the three points, but from the aspect of our game, although we managed to better our performance a little, but there is still a lot that needs to be rectified.

 “There has also been an improvement on our combination, and hopefully things will keep improving in the team,” said Justin. He said some of his players, including goalscorer Rexjeson, Zul Mansshah Aling and Jenius Karib are all carrying minor injuries after getting knocks during the game.

 However, Justin said they should be able to recover in time for their next game against Perak at the Likas Stadium on Thursday (Feb 7).