SIMPLY NOT UP TO MARK
Pahang second stringers given a thrashing by Selangor
PAHANG have put their hopes of finishing runners-up in the Super League in jeopardy following the 5-2 thrashing by Selangor at the Shah Alam Stadium on Tuesday.
Coach Dollah Salleh fielded a weakened side hoping that his second stringers would produce a respectable performance against B. Satiananthan’s team.
But the fringe players failed to impress due to lack of match fitness.
Dollah, however, is not too concerned with the defeat.
With his regulars well rested, the coach hopes they will be able to perform in Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final return leg match against Perak in Ipoh.
Although the east coast side are still second with 30 points, other teams are fast closing in on them.
“I had to take the risk of resting my regulars as I did not want injuries ahead of the FA Cup match. We are actually more focused on winning the FA Cup,”
said Dollah on Tuesday.
“Why I fielded a weak team? My defender, Matthew Davies came up to me after the FA Cup semi-final first leg and told me that our players were tired.
“I thought about it and decided to make changes for this match after consulting the management.”
Dollah added: “In the first half today, it was clear that my players were lacking match fitness because most were playing for the first time.
“We tried to fight back after the breather by introducing Safuwan (Baharudin) and (Mohamadou) Sumareh.
“With their help, we managed to reduce the deficit. That’s the difference when we have some first XI players mixed into the team.”
Among the fringe players who played for Pahang were Afif Amiruddin, Remezey Che Ros, Zuhair Aizat, Salomon Raj and Ashar Al Hafiz.
In the absence of their first-team players, the disjointed Pahang were no match for Selangor who raced to a 4-0 lead through Khyril Muhymeen Zambri (29th minute), Ifedayo Olusegun (36th, 43rd) and Endrick Dos Santos (46th).
R. Kogileswaran (68th) and Sumareh (77th) pulled two goals back for the visitors before Olusegun capped another good outing with his hat-trick goal in the 86th minute.
Dollah believes Pahang have the pedigree to retain their FA Cup crown. They lead Perak 3-1 from the first leg. RESULTS — SUPER LEAGUE: Kedah 3 PJ City 2, Melaka 1 JDT 2, Terengganu 3 Kuala Lumpur 1. PREMIER LEAGUE: UKM FC 2 Terengganu II 4, Sabah 4 Sarawak 1, Penang 2 Negri 1.