New Sabah Times
By UMESH RAJAN
KOTA KINABALU: KDM Keningau produced a miraculous comeback in front of their home fans to clinch the KDM Malaysia Football League Charity Shield at the Keningau Stadium on Saturday night.
The League’s defending champion fought their way throughout the second half to beat FA Cup holders, KDM Papar, 3-2 to take home the Charity Shield and RM10,000 cash.
Both sides ended the first half goalless but Keningau found themselves trailing early after the restart courtesy of goals from Papar’s Norejan Jamlin (51st min) and David Joseph (60th min).
Spurred on by the home crowd, Keningau were determined to fight back on their own turf and they just did that thanks to Aldrin Justin who pulled a goal back in the 66th minute to get the crowd going.
Former state President Cup player, Zackllani Antanom scored the equaliser for Keningau with two minutes left on the clock, sending the fans into a frenzy.
There was no stopping Keningau as they proved to be the decisive winner of the match as Shane Albert’s powerful shot found the back of the net in the second minute of the five-minute added time.
With Keningau starting the new season with a boost of confidence, Papar had to settle for the runners-up spot, receiving RM3,500 cash, both prizes were presented by KDM Malaysia president, Datuk Peter Anthony.
Meanwhile, before the match started, Peter officiated the KDM Malaysia Football League campaign scheduled to start next year where a total of 32 teams from around the state will fight for honours.
And the State Infrastructure Development Minister also introduced the Sabah Football Academy which will be formed in the near future in order to improve the standard of Sabah football.
He said the focus of the academy was to identify talents at the grassroots levels and to groom them to be quality footballers thus help improve the state and country’s football.
“We are targeting local youths under the age of 15 years and children as early as in their primary school days for the upcoming academy.
“This academy will give a new look to Sabah’s sports development sector and it will provide a series of integrated, strategic and systematic training,” he said.
Peter then went on to say that combined efforts from all are needed to ensure that football in Sabah will reach new heights as there are plenty of footballing gems waiting to be unearthed.
