By: GL Oh
KOTA KINABALU: A depleted Sabah Tambadau side chalked up their second win in succession with a 1-0 victory over Selangor United in the Premier League tie at Likas Stadium, Saturday night. The victory was sweet revenge for Jelius Ating’s boys following their 1-2 defeat by the same opponent in the first round early last month.
The only goal of the match was scored by Rodoljub Paunovic in the sixth minute with a flick goal after Alto Linus’s header was not dealt properly by the Selangor United keeper following a Jenius Karib long ball into the box. It was the Serbian’s fifth goal of the season and making him the top scorer in the team to date.
Sabah with only three foreign imports to start the match looked the better side in terms of possession on the night, but without the injured duo of Sabri Sahar and Maxsius Musa, they only relied on Alto to make some useful crosses while Paunovic also had play deep to pull the strings at times. As the game wore on, the Sabah defence seemed happy to just sit deep, absorbing the pressure and hit out on quick counter attack.
However, despite created several scoring opportunities, they were unable to find the net with some woeful finishing. The team also had goalkeeper Rozaimie Rohim to thank for the win as he who produced some good stops to deny the visitors on several occasions. With the victory and three points in the bag, Sabah reclaimed their second spot in the table standing with 21 points from six wins, three draws and two losses.
They are only three points behind leaders JDT II who have 24 points while in third place is UiTM who are a point behind. Their next match is against UKM away at Kuala Lumpur Football Stadium on May 17.
