Junior Rhinos down K’tan to stay on top
Stanley Sulong scored twice as Sabah edged Kelantan 4-1 at the Likas Stadium yesterday to strengthen their grip on the Group A top placing in the President Cup challenge.
KOTA KINABALU: Stanley Sulong scored twice as Sabah edged Kelantan 4-1 at the Likas Stadium yesterday to strengthen their grip on the Group A top placing in the President Cup challenge.
Strikers Arius Dius Jais and Hamran Peter also netted for the Junior Rhinos, who have now gone five matches without losing.
Muhammad Danial Haqim Draman was on the score sheet for Kelantan, but that was all they could come up with against the on-form Sabah.
Team manager Mohd Yassin Aman was a picture of happiness after the final whistle following the huge win.
He said the victory was not only important to consolidate their top position, but the confidence gained could be valuable as the squad face six consecutive home games, five of which were against teams in the top six Group A including Kelantan.
“We are very happy to have won at home with a huge margin and hopefully, this will give the players the confidence to do even better in future games.
“The squad did a good job against Kelantan but there are certain areas that still need improvement.
“We will continue to train hard to improve because the upcoming games will not be easy and we need to be at our best.
“I’ve said that we are targeting a minimum of 12 points from the six home games but if possible, we want to get the maximum 18 points.
“We have achieved the first three points today (yesterday) and we will continue to fight hard to reach the objective,” he said when met after the match yesterday.
Having said that, Yassin stressed that the squad would take one game at a time with their upcoming game against Johor Darul Takzim III (JDT).
“Our next focus will be the match against JDT III. They are second in the group and obviously, it will be another tough game.
“However, I believe in the players as well as the coaches to prepare the team to face JDT III,” he added.
In the match yesterday, Arius put Sabah in front after 23 minutes before right flanker Stanley doubled the lead just two minutes later.
Danial pulled a goal back for the visitors in the 32nd minute to give them a fighting chance in the second period.
Stanley then scored his second goal of the game in the 59th minute to all but secure the points while Hamran completed the rout with a well-taken goal in the 89th minute.
Leaders Sabah moved to 24 points from eight wins and a defeat, followed by JDT III with 20 points and Kedah 19 points in second and third place, respectively.
The Junior Rhinos will take on JDT III in a top-ofthe-table clash on Thursday, which is also the last fixtures in the first round of the competition.