Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto
KOTA KINABALU: Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto has hailed the gritty performance of his depleted side who forced highly ranked Terengganu FC to a scoreless draw at the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium on Sunday.
The head coach said the single point won was ‘very valuable’ especially when the Rhinos were without five key players against the second ranked team in the Super League.
In addition, the Indonesian trainer was also forced to make an eleventh hour change as he tried to keep the team fresh after an eight-hour long journey by bus to Gong Badak upon arriving at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
“It was a very tough game. We were without our five regular starters and we had a very tiring journey for the game…we had to make changes to the squad and to our playing approach.
“In the first half, we decided to send the youngsters in the first half…we knew Terengganu will go all out on the attack so we focused on defending and looked for opening to counter attack.
“Saddil (Ramdani) and Amri (Yahya) were brought in the second half because they were very experienced and able to control the tempo of the game.
“Bobby (Gonzales) came on early due to injury to Yoyo (Josip Ivancic) and he too worked hard not only in attack but also helping out in defending.
“Overall, I’m happy with the one point which was very valuable to the team…the players deserved a pat on the back for their hard work,” said Kurniawan after the match.
The Rhinos went into the match without injured South Korean defensive midfielder Park Tae Su and Azzizan Nordin while Alto Linus and Randy Baruh served their one-match suspension.
Gabonese midfielder Levy Madinda, like Azizzan, also travelled with the squad but was not in the matchday squad.
And it was not a surprise when Terengganu FC controlled the first half and came close to scoring but Chechi Marcel’s effort rattled the crossbar while captain David Da Silva’s tamed follow-up was cleared off the line by Ristro Mitrevski.
Sabah FC were much improved in the second half with Amri and Saddil in the side, as they enjoyed much of the possession and created several half chances that went begging.
Terengganu FC however finished the game strongly where Da Silva curled the ball home from a free kick only for the effort to be disallowed after one of the home players had strayed off-side.
“We had hope to get six points from the match against PJ City FC and Sri Pahang but collected only one point. It was especially tough for us because we did not have enough friendly games to build on the players’ match fitness.
“However, we have played three competitive matches (including Terengganu FC) since the league resumption and hopefully the team will improve and be more ready for the next match,” added Kurniawan.
After completing 16 matches, Sabah FC have collected 18 points from four wins and six draws while they suffered defeats in the remaining games. The Rhinos are currently seventh in the 12-team league.
Sabah FC will next face KL City FC at the Likas Stadium on August 4.
Meanwhile, it was learnt that midfielder Madinda has parted ways with the Rhinos after his contract expired on July 31.
Madinda in his Instagram post thanked Sabah FC, teammates, coaching staff, medical officers and the fans who have been supportive during his stay here.
Sabah FC through its official Facebook also wished Madinda ‘the best of luck’ in his future endeavors.
Super League standings
P W D L F A Pts
JDT 16 12 3 1 39 8 39
Terengganu FC 16 9 4 3 25 14 31
Kedah DA FC 13 8 2 3 21 13 26
Penang FC 15 7 4 4 20 18 25
Selangor FC 16 6 5 5 28 25 23
KL City FC 16 4 8 4 19 16 20
Sabah FC 16 4 6 6 19 20 18
PJ City FC 15 4 6 5 11 15 18
Sri Pahang FC 16 4 5 7 20 25 17
Melaka Utd FC* 16 4 7 5 19 21 16
Perak FC 16 3 4 9 14 31 13
UiTM FC 15 0 2 13 5 34 2
*Melaka Utd deducted three points