NO FEAR FOR PAHANG
Dollah’s side confidence of completing their mission at ‘Fortress Larkin’
LARKIN Stadium is regarded as Johor Darul Ta’zim’s (JDT) fortress, and many fear playing Benjamin Mora’s side in their own backyard but not Pahang.
Following the 1-1 draw in Sunday’s quarter-final first leg of the Malaysia Cup in Kuantan, Pahang believe they can oust the defending champions from the competition in the return leg at Larkin on Saturday.
After a scoreless first half at the Darulmakmur Stadium, Gonzalo Cabrera handed JDT the lead in the 46th minute before Safuwan Baharudin equalised for the home team in stoppage time.
Pahang are confident they can beat JDT again in their own backyard as they did so in April when they thrashed the former AFC Cup champions 3-0 in the FA Cup quarter-final return leg at Larkin.
“We will need to work on certain areas. In the second half, we were stunned by an early goal.
“Our players should have been more focused, but they were caught off guard, and we were punished.
“That goal affected the team’s morale. We were lucky to score a late equaliser, which gives us some breathing space going into the return leg,” said Dollah.
The former international noted: “Overall, our rhythm was not there as JDT controlled the pace of the match. This affected our team.
“At the same time, we didn’t play well, especially in the second half. We are just glad to have scored late in the match. I hope that in the return leg, we will be able to upset JDT as they will be the favourites at home.”
JDT team manager Luciano Figueroa was not at all pleased with his team for allowing Pahang’s late equaliser.
“We came here (Kuantan) to win, but we were denied that because of a late equaliser.
“I am not happy with this result. We will have to step up our game when we face Pahang at home,” said Figueroa.