New Sabah Times
KOTA KINABALU: Sabahawks Juniors seemed to have forgotten their scoring boots after being held to a scoreless draw by lowly Kuala Lumpur in a President’s Cup challenge at the Maybank Sports Complex field in Bangi yesterday.
They had more than enough chances to take all the three points, only to be denied by poor finishing.
Team manager Datuk Juil Nuatim when contacted was cursing their hard luck for not putting at least one behind the opponents’ net.
According to him, they dominated the tie throughout, but found the goals just too hard to come by.
“We created so many chances, including three one-on-one situations as well as an injury time penalty.
“Rexjeson (Pitrus) had only the keeper to beat twice, but failed to convert on both occasions. His striking partner Eyo (Matthew) also failed to find the net once in a one-on-one situation.
“And in injury time, we thought the game was won when we were awarded a penalty kick. But to our dismay, Shazree’s (Ruhif Ismail) spot kick hit the goalpost,” a disappointed Juil said.
“This is the problem we were facing all this while, we were not lethal enough in front of goal. If not, we could have been among the top teams in the standings,” Juil added.
Having said all that, Juil wants the team to continue fighting, believing that their chances of making a top eight finish are still wide open.
“I want to see them fighting to the very end.
We may not be happy with today’s (yesterday) result, but the fight for a place in the quarter-finals must go on. I hope we will do a good job when we play our game against Police on Thursday,” said Juil.
Sabahawks are likely to remain in 10th in the 18-team standings on 32 points from seven wins, 11 draws and five defeats.
