KOTA KINABALU: Sabah head coach Jelius Ating (pic) was pleased with his players after they registered their first away win this season in the Borneo Derby against Sarawak at the State Stadium, Saturday. “We are of course very happy to bring home the three points collected last night. It was also the first away win for us this season and I hope it is not going to be our first and last,” he said on Sunday.
“I also hope the result will motivate the players to play well in coming matches. If you watched the match last night, we started well, and created a lot of chances especially in the first half.” “However, it was not an easy win for us in the end. Our players had to work very hard to get the three points despite the good start. “Sarawak with their young players worked extremely hard and the second half saw them trying to get back into the game and eventually managed to score one goal.
“I have to praise my players who were able to absorb the pressure to ensure we returned with the three points.” He admitted that there are still many weaknesses in the team despite their second win in a row. “In terms of result I am very satisfied, but as overall performance, there are still many weaknesses that need to be rectified.
“For example the players tend to be too relaxed after taking the two-goal lead and that had given their opponents the opportunity to fight back. “At the same time, the distribution of balls to the frontline from our midfield wasn’t that satisfactory and we will try to work on that so that they can be more creative.
“As for the forwards, they also failed to convert many chances. Although that is not a big issue for me as we don’t have to score a lot of goals to win a match, if we can convert the many chances that was created then it will definitely be an added advantage. “Of course there are many other factors as well if we are to go far this season,” he added. – GL Oh
