Junior Rhinos coach sees silver lining in defeat
KOTA KINABALU: Newly appointed head coach Johnny Dominicus was pleased with the performance of his President Cup squad despite the 0-2 defeat to Indonesian side PPLM Bina Sentra in Likas on Monday.
He said the Junior Rhinos have only been together for one week but showed promise against a side that have been training for two years, not to mention the two national players in the visiting squad.
That said, Johnny revealed there was certainly room for improvement and once they have achieved that, he hoped the state juniors would show their true colours.
“We lost 0-2 but you can see that the boys can play. If you look at the Indonesian side, they have very experienced players including two national players.
“I learned from their coach that they have been together for two years,” he said here yesterday.
“We have only one week of preparation and a lot of areas still can be improved.
“In terms of team play, there is no issue because most of them (Junior Rhinos) used to play together in the under-21 and under-19 teams.
“Maybe only a few new ones need to adapt to the team. (There) should not be any problem once they are fit,” he added.
Commenting on the state junior squad further, Johnny said there were 29 players in the existing squad but stressed none were 100 per cent confirmed of their place yet.
He said there could be additions if they find the right players in the ongoing VIII Sabah Games (SAGA) in Sandakan.
“We are still waiting for the SAGA. We have been asked to go to Sandakan to watch the semifinals and final.
“If there are any suitable ones, we will then add to the positions needed,” he said while adding most of the players involved in the SAGA also came for the trial earlier.
Johnny added that the current set of players would be given a week off and will only return for training on December 18.
Meanwhile, the Jelius Atingcoached Sabah senior squad will take on Bina Sentra at the Likas Stadium tonight.
It will be the second meeting between the teams with Sabah registering a 4-1 win in the first friendly last Saturday.