Sabah/Labuan Selection fifth in National U-13, U-15 Zone League Carnival
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah/ Labuan Selectionjunior teams finished fifth overall in the recent National Under-13 and Under-15 Zone League Carnival held at the Mokhtar Dahari Academy in Gambang, Pahang.
The under-13 squad claimed a 4-3 penalty shootout win against Sarawak Selection in the fifth/ sixth place play-off. The match had ended scoreless in regulation time.
Earlier, the team under coaches Firdaus Rosli and Norie Keegan Anak Usin lost both their group fixtures to Sekolah Sukan Negeri (SSN) Kuala Lumpur 0-3 and Sekolah Sukan Malaysia (SSM) Pahang 0-8.
As for the under-15 team, they lost 3-6 in the play-off to SSN Pulau Pinang but the state juniors were awarded the fifth placingafter the opponents were disqualified after breaking the tournaments rules on registration.
In the group matches, the under-15 team under coaches Sophian Ronny Shamin and Zumri Atim drew 1-1 with SSN Kuala Lumpur but lost 1-4 to Pusat Latihan Daerah (PLD) Kota Bharu KC Kelantan.
The chief coordinator of Sabah/Labuan Zone II Districts, Onus Amat, accompanied the teams to the carnival, which was the season-ending tournament under the National Football Development Programme (NFDP).
For the record, teams under NFDP programme took part in the qualifiers at their respective zonesto select the players or teams for the national level carnival.
Former state footballer Omar Maya Amat is the NFDP Sabah/ Labuan chief coach where he is assisted by district chief coordinators in Hashim Hamzah for Zone I (Keningau, Kota Kinabalu, Labuan and SSN SMK Datuk Peter Mojuntin) and Onus for Zone II (Tawau, Kinabatangan and Sandakan).
NFDP Sabah/Labuan comprise one chief coach, five part-time coaches, 30 academy coaches and 42 coaches for PLD and SSN.