Miri FA out of LBR after heavy loss
MIRI: Miri FA’s dream of making it to the semi-finals of Bolasepak Rakyat League (LBR) was crushed in a 6-1 defeat to Kelantan’s Rantau Panjang in their quarter- final second leg on Saturday.
According to Miri FA head coach Mohamad Hakimi Man, his side were caught off guard by problems on and off the field.
Aggressive play resulted in injuries and their opponents were “smart in manipulating our weaknesses,” he told The Borneo Post yesterday.
The Miri players were also not mentally ready at match time.
The match originally scheduled for 4.15pm at Pasir Mas Stadium was cancelled due to poor ground conditions.
The team was ordered to play instead at SMK Panglima Raja Lemal school field at 5pm.
“This was a rush for all of our players and we lost focus due to the technical error that should not have occurred in a national level event like this,” Hakimi said.
Nevertheless, he added that the team accepted defeat with an open heart and be contented that they learnt much from the experience.
The first leg of the quarter-final which took place in Miri last week ended in a 2-2 draw.
It was the second time that the team made it as far as the last eight of the national amateur football league since 2015.