Sabah down S’gor, lead Tun Sharifah Rodziah Cup

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah thrashed Selangor 4-0 to maintain their perfect run in the 31st Tun Sharifah Rodziah Cup at the Mokhtar Dahari Football Academy field 3 in Gambang, Pahang yesterday.

The victory saw them occupy the top spot in the eight-team standings on a maximum of six points.

Usliza Usman, Puteri Noralisa Wilkinson, Shereilynn Elly Pius and Haindee Mosroh all put their name on the scoresheet with a goal each.

Prior to the comfortable win, Sabah had demolished Negeri Sembilan 11-0 on Saturday.

Head coach Mohd Aiyyman Shah Johny Abdullah had no complaints, despite seeing his side drawing a blank after the break, by insisting that what mattered most was the three points.

“Our game was not as good as in our first game against Negeri Sembilan. Playing in a morning game, especially when it starts at 9am, is not an easy thing to do, especially when you had played a late afternoon match a day before,” said Mohd Aiyyman when contacted yesterday.

“The weather was kind of hot, which I think was among the factors that affect our game. Nevertheless, I’m happy with how the team approached the game.

“From the aspects of ball possession and creating goal scoring chances, I’m satisfied. We will try to rectify the team’s weaknesses in the next few days, and hope that we will come back stronger in the second week of the competition next weekend (this weekend),” he added.

Sabah’s next opponents will be Penang and Kedah.

Meanwhile, like Sabah, last year’s finalists Kedah also maintained their perfect run after trouncing the Armed Forces 5-0. In the opener, they thrashed PBMM (Persatuan Bolasepak Melayu Malaysia) 90.

The other two results playing yesterday saw Penang defeat Negeri Sembilan 4-1 while Melaka mauled PDMM 7-1.