New Sabah Times
By FRANCIS XAVIER
KOTA KINABALU: Tambadau head coach Jelius Ating reminded his charges not to get carried away following their back-to-back victories, insisting that the good show must continue if they harbour any hope of doing well in the Premier League this season.
Jelius’ side claimed a morale-boosting Borneo Derby win over Sarawak in Kuching on Saturday, which is their first away win this season.
The victory came at the back of their impressive 3-1 home win over Terengganu FC II.
On the win over Sarawak, Jelius said he was happy with the result before admitting it was a hard fought win, but a well deserved one.
“I’m extremely happy with the result and to return home with all three points. It was our first away win and certainly I hope it won’t be the first and the last. Let us take it as a motivation for the team to continue to be successful in our future matches,” said Jelius when met yesterday.
He said they started well and created many goal-scoring opportunities that led to Serbian forward Rodoljub Paunovic’s goal in the 36th minute, which was his first this season.
Then midfielder Sabri Sahar added the second three minutes later.
The youthful Sarawak squad showed great determination in the second half and managed to reduce the deficit through defender Pedro Henrique’s 89th minute goal, but it was too late to stage a comeback.
“It was definitely not an easy win. Sarawak with their young players were hardworking and was always on the move to attack in the second half especially. I have to give credit to our players as they defended stoutly to ensure we collected the maximum points away from home.
The coach said despite the win, there were still weaknesses that need to be rectified if they are to go far in the Premier League 2019.
“Our players tend to relax and easily be comfortable once we were in the lead and this allowed the opponents to get back into the game.
“Another area that needs improvement is at the middle of the park where we did not supply enough quality passes into the final third of the pitch for the strikers.
“We need to find ways to get better in midfield and be creative in our passes or plays and of course the strikers too must take their chances.
“For me, a victory is the most important thing regardless of the score but if we have a good finisher, it would be a huge advantage for the team,” said Jelius.
Tambadau next test is PDRM, who have yet to register a win after four matches into the season. The home match is scheduled for March 2.
“We hope to keep our momentum going against PDRM. We know the opponents are still without a win in four matches but we must not underestimate them.
“The situation PDRM are in at the moment will make them even determined to chase for the points and that is enough to tell us to be at our best.
As I said earlier, we have now victories at home and away and we must not stop there. We need to get as many points as to pull away from the teams below us to be in a better position and not put ourselves under pressure.
Saturday’s victory moved Tambadau to third in the 11-team standings on seven points with two wins, one draw and a defeat.
However, their league position could change as two Premier League matches were played last night where UiTM FC faced off with JDT II while Negeri Sembilan played against Penang.
