Four more teams for Safa Cup grand final

KOTA KINABALU: Four more teams progressed into the Sabah Football Association (Safa) Cup grand final after the completion of the rescheduled zonal qualifying matches over the weekend.

The teams are Sipitang and Kuala Penyu from Pedalaman Bawah zone and Kota Marudu and Kota Belud from Pantai Barat Utara Zone.

Sipitang advanced into this weekend’s grand final as the Pedalaman Bawah zone winners after beating Beaufort 3-2 at the Beaufort Sports Complex on Sunday.

The victory put Sipitang on top with six points while Kuala Penyu, who had completed their fixtures the week before, also qualified as the runner-up on three points.

Beaufort, who needed to score a huge win over Sipitang to progress, were eliminated without collecting a single point in two matches.

Earlier on Saturday, Kota Marudu claimed a 3-0 win over Pitas and a scoreless draw against Kota Belud to advance as the zone winners on seven points.

Kota Marudu as the hosts of the zone qualifying matches are undefeated having opened with 4-1 win over Kudat the previous week.

Joining them in the grand final are Kota Belud, who advanced despite finishing with a 1-1 outcome against Kudat.

However, with Pitas going down in a must-win game against Kota Marudu, the five points accumulated by Kota Belud from three matches were enough to send them through to the grand final.

For the record, inclement weather forced the postponement of several matches in the two zones originally scheduled from January 12-14.

Meanwhile, the 12-team grand final lineup is now confirmed with the completion of the rescheduled fixtures.

The eight teams to have secured qualification earlier are Putatan and Penampang (Pantai Barat zone); Nabawan and Keningau (Pedalaman Atas zone): Kinabatangan and Tongod (Sandakan zone); and Kunak and Tawau (Tawau zone).

The Safa Cup grand final will take place here from January 2628 where prize money totalling RM40,000 is up for grabs in addition to trophies and medals.

An initiative of Safa Local Competitions Committee headed by its vice president, Datuk Seri Dr Ruddy Awah, the main objective of Safa Cup is to identify new talents to be roped into the Sabah FC teams to face the MFL Cup, President Cup and Youth Cup.