President’s Cup: Jalil rues defensive error as S’wak lose to PKNP FC

MIRI: Head coach Abdul Jalil Ramli was unhappy with the performance of his President’s Cup squad in their 2- 0 defeat to PKNP FC in Group B at Miri Stadium yesterday.

He described that both goals were conceded through defensive errors.

The Young Crocs held their opponents scoreless until the 36th minute when Muhammad Iskandar Noorisam scored the first goal for PKNP FC.

The visitors doubled the lead through Muhammad Hakimi Mat Isa in the 60th minute and sealed the game.

A handful of fans turned up at the stadium to catch the Young Crocs in action.

Jalil nevertheless defended his boys and hoped fans would give them more time to improve.

“Overall, I am not satisfied with the result, it’s a hard one to swallow.

“I know the ability of our players, but today it seems that they cannot maintain the good performance because they were overwhelmed by the occasion, playing the opener at home.

“Nevertheless, I believe they will be able to amend the mistakes in the next game,” the head coach said.

Commenting on the match, Jalil said his team was not playing according to plan.

The players made many passing errors and the defence was loose.

“First of all, we have not reached our desired level in passing and the players were too nervous, although few have shown some interesting moves,” he said.

“Both goals were resulted from our own mistakes.

“The first goal slowly killed our momentum while the second was decisive and our players were unable to bounce back,” Jalil added.

“Nevertheless, we will identify and fix them for the next game. This is a good lesson for our players.

“We will bounce back, that is one thing for sure because I know the quality of the boys,” he emphasised.

Meanwhi le, his PKNP FC counterpart Rafae Isa said overall he was delighted with the performance of his players and described the homesters as a formidable opponents.

“Nonetheless, Sarawak team should not be taken lightly.

“The game was good, it was just not their luck,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Young Crocs are facing another daunting task against PDRM on Feb 25 at Padang Latihan Pulapol in Kuala Lumpur.

Sarawak’s player controls the ball during the President’s Cup match against PKNP FC at Miri Stadium yesterday.

Players fight for the ball during the President’s Cup match between Sarawak (red jersey) and PKNP FC at Miri Stadium yesterday.