Sabah U-19 lose 2-4 to Kedah
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Under19 squad fell to a 2-4 defeat at the hands of Kedah in the first leg of the Youth Cup quarterfinal tie at Jitra Mini Stadium yesterday.
The state juniors trailed by only one goal in the opening half but suffered a defensive meltdown in the second half that they had largely dominated, and allowed the home side to surge to a fourgoal lead.
Lasiter Latimin and Faqrulrazi Ahmad scored in the 72nd and 78th minutes to make the scoreline respectable, and more importantly gave Sabah possible valuable away goals.
Head coach, Mohd Aiyyman Shah Johnny Abdullah, lamented the squad’s defensive mistakes that cost them the opportunity for a better result.
“The game was evenly contested but our defenders were nervous and mistakes eventually led to goals by Kedah. Not to take anything away from Kedah though, they played a good game,” said Aiyyman, when contacted after the game.
Having said that, Aiyyman vowed that Sabah would go all out in the second leg to try and turn the tables on Kedah. He said the away goals rule meant that Sabah must score twice and keep a clean sheet in order to advance into the last four.
“We will try harder (to beat Kedah) at our home ground,” added Aiyyman, a former Sabah defender.
The second leg of the quarterfinal will be played at the Penampang Stadium on August 9.