Miri win S’wak Cup again after 18 years
MIRI: The 18-year wait finally ended for Mirians when their team lifted the Sarawak Cup again last Saturday.
But the last few days of the tournament were nerve-wracking for players, officials and supporters. They first had to overcome Kuching in the semi-final decided by penalty kicks (4-2).
Then came the grand finale against Bintulu in which victory was achieved by the narrowest of margins.
The famous win was played in front of over 2, 000 spectators who thronged the Mukah Stadium.
Both teams fought hard but neither could score at the end of 90 minutes. The match was extended to extra time to break the stalemate.
Roslan Yunus finally broke through to allow Miri to lead for the first time in the match. But just when it looked like they had clinched it in extra time Bintulu equalised.
It all came down to the penalty shoot-out that Miri edged Bintulu 5-4 to claim the most famous trophy in Sarawak sport.
Miri head coach Mat Enju paid tribute to his boys who trained for over a month and faced “many obstacles.”
The victory was “sweet success” not only for his team but also Miri fans, he told The Borneo Post on Sunday when the team returned from Mukah to a hero’s welcome at Miri City Council football field where fans including Piasau assemblyman and Sarawak United People’s Party secretary- general Datuk Sebastian Ting cheered.
Besides winning the coveted title and cash prize of RM18, 000, Miri also collected a string of other awards including the Fair Play Award, Best Goalkeeper (Abdul Razak Jamaat), Best Player in the final (Fairul Hadi) and Top Goal Scorer (Roslan Yunus).
The win marked another historical moment for the Miri Football Association, said team manager Abdul Wahab Aman who added,” Now that we have proved it, we hope that there will be a few players from Miri FA to be shortlisted to undergo for trial for Sarawak Team.”
Thirteen teams played in the biennial 2017 Sarawak Cup.
Organisers called off the match to decide third placing between Limbang and Kuching following the death of Limbang Football Association vice president Alidin@ Brahim Tawar.