KOTA KINABALU: The State Under-19 squad edged Negeri Sembilan 2-1 in their Group B Youth Cup second round match at Penampang Stadium on Sunday. The team who lost their season opener 3-1 to JDT VI snatched the lead in the 10th minute after Asmawi Sulikin was brought down inside the box. Sharizan Saidin who took the spot kick had no problem to strike the ball home.
Negeri Sembilan who are one of the early favourites for the title bounced back immediately and had Sabah’s players pinned in their own half for long periods. Despite the immense pressure, the Sabah defence stood firm until the first half whistle. However, three minutes after the restart, their defence lost focus allowing Muhd Haleif Hazreil Mohd Harif to nod home from a free kick taken by Muhd Huzaimi Mokhtar.
The home players started to play well after the setback and in the 77th minute, they regained the lead with Sharizan’s second goal in the match with a header from a corner kick, which proved to be the winner. Head coach Billyton Vun Kit Ming was happy with the win and hoped that it will motivate the players to do well in the coming matches.
“We had a good start with an early goal but the players lost focus after that and it is an indication that our players need to improve their mental strength to last the whole 90 minutes of the match. “A lot of areas still need to be improved... We will continue to work on the players not only to compete in this competition but also to turn them into quality back up players for the senior team in the future,” he said. Sabah’s next match is against Kedah on Wednesday at the same venue starting at 4.15pm. - GL Oh
