New Sabah Times
By FRANCIS XAVIER
KOTA KINABALU: Tambadau Juniors registered a comfortable 3-0 win over Armed Forces FC in a President’s Cup Group A second round opener at the Mindef Mini Stadium in the national capital yesterday.
The victory came at the back of their 1-3 away defeat to Selangor United FC in their last first-round tie on Monday.
Playing without their head coach Justin Ganai on the sidelines, Tambadau Juniors took the lead through flanker Zulkifly Harun, who netted home the opener on the stroke of half time.
Tambadau Juniors added two more goals after the break by netting home twice in the last four minutes of the tie. Captain Mohd Aidil Safee scored the second in the 87th minute before second-half substitute Frederic Fadzly Gusmia netted the third in the 90th minute.
Justin is currently on an official working visit with Korperasi Serbaguna Sanya Berhad (Kosan) delegation that left for China on Wednesday.
In his absence, assistant coach Johnny Dominicus is taking charge of the team. It was a crucial win for Justin Ganai’s boys as the three points helped them move from ninth to sixth in the 10-team standings.
After 10 matches into the season, they collected 14 points from four wins, two draws and four defeats. They are level on points with three other teams, namely Selangor United FC, Penang and Pahang.
Their position is only separated by goal difference with Selangor United sitting in fifth, while Penang and Pahang are in seventh and eighth respectively, followed by Kedah, who had played one match lesser, in ninth on 13 points, while Armed Forces FC languish at the bottom of the standings with zero points.
Selangor, who were held to a one-all draw by Penang (yesterday), are leading the pack on 19 points, followed by PJ City FC, in second on 18.
JDT III, who hold a one-game advantage over their closest rivals, are in third on 15 points, followed by UiTM FC in fourth, also on 15.
The President’s Cup 2019 is taking a break during the fasting month and will resume on June 17 where Tambadau Juniors will have a home date with Kedah.
