First Youth Cup loss for under-19 squad
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah under19 squad suffered their first defeat of the Youth Cup challenge after going down 1-2 to Selangor at the Penampang Stadium yesterday.
A poor first half showing did the damage on the state juniors as their hesitant play at the back resulted in goals by Saiful Iskandar Ahda Saiful Azlan and Muhammad Aiman Hakeem Hamidi for the 2016 Youth Cup runners-up.
The opening goal arrived after 10 minutes when the home defence and goalkeeper Mohd Ramzi Mustakim failed to deal with a free kick into the box that Saiful Iskandar turned into the net with a looping header.
Sabah continued to be well below their best for much of the half, although they did come close to levelling the game through Arius Dius Jais whose welltaken free kick forced Selangor goalkeeper Muhammad Aiman Arip Zulkarnain into an acrobatic save.
It proved costly as Selangor doubled their lead from yet another indecisiveness from the home defence, with centre-back Muhammad Aiman Hakeem Hamidi rising to head home in off the post
Ramzi too had to be alert shortly after as he dived at full stretch to keep a wild headed clearance from his own defender to keep Sabah in the game.
The Jelius Ating-coached state juniors returned with a much improved performance in the second half and added much urgency and aggressiveness into the game to unsettle the opponents.
The home side hard work paid off on 71 minutes when Mohd Iqhbal Kassim controlled a long ball into the box before firing low past Arip to reduce the deficit.
Sabah pushed men forward in search of the equaliser but despite the numerous chances, their decision making in finding the right pass into the danger areas and finishing were not up to mark.
The hosts could have saved a point at the death when Mohd Aidil Safee got enough power to head a Jeniun Karib’s corner kick at point blank range but Arip produced a superb stop to clinch the maximum points for Selangor.
Team manager Mohd Yassin Aman admitted Sabah have not been up to par in the first half but the issue that concerned him much was that the finishing was a let-down.
“Regardless of the performance, we created chances including in a poor first half to get something from the game.
“Football is all about scoring goals and we failed to convert most except for one.
“We are disappointed because we hoped to maintain a good start to the season. We need to work harder and try to bounce back in our next game,” he said when met after the game.
Sabah, who opened with a 3-1 win away to KL Felda United FC, will take on Perlis in Kangar on Wednesday.