By UMESH RAJAN
KOTA KINABALU: The State Reserve League team maintained their 100 per cent pre-season record as they notched two more friendly victories, recently. Justin Ganai’s boys romped to a 5-0 victory over KDM Bandaraya on Monday at the Likas Sukma field, near here where the experienced head coach said the match played a vital part in the team’s pre-season development. KDM Bandaraya recently topped their group and secured a spot in the knockout stage of the second edition KDM Malaysia Football League Tournament last weekend.
Justin said that the friendly served as a test for his players given Bandaraya’s good form as the team prepare for the start of the President’s Cup campaign later this month. They then followed up with a second meeting with their younger brothers, Sabah Under-19 on Tuesday at UMS Stadium where they recorded a 2-0 win. The first encounter between the two teams during the pre-season saw the Reserve League win 3-1 last month and the recent victory gave them their seventh consecutive win so far.
Sabah start their President’s Cup Group A campaign with back-to-back home matches where they play Perlis at the Likas Stadium on February 21, followed with Pahang four days later (February 25). The team then travel to face UiTM FC at UiTM Shah Alam Stadium in Selangor on February 28 as Justin and Co. prepare for a tough opening week.
