Victory eludes Junior Rhinos
Sabah were denied a victory as hosts Perlis scored late to share the points in the Youth Cup (Under-19) Group B e in Kangar yesterday.
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah were denied a victory as hosts Perlis scored late to share the points in the Youth Cup (Under-19) Group B tie in Kangar yesterday.
The match held at the Tuanku Syed Putra Stadium ended 2-2.
After a scoreless first half, Perlis opened the scoring against the run of play through Muhd Haziq Muhd Subri’s free kick in the 50th minute.
Jeniun Karib levelled the game with his own free kick 10 minutes later before Mohd Aidil Safee put Sabah in front by tucking the ball from a goalmouth melee in the 72nd minute.
The state juniors had the points in the bag until Perlis equalised in the first minute of injury time through an opportunistic strike from Muhd Azam Adzim Ahmad Kamal.
“I was very disappointed with the outcome of the game,” said Jelius Ating when contacted after the match.
Jelius said Sabah dominated for much of the game and created enough chances to win the match including in the first half, but to no avail.
“If I were to describe (the match), it was a game that have no right to lose or draw.
“In the first half especially, our goalkeeper touched the ball only once and that showed how we dominated our opponents.
“Perlis were limited to pumping the ball into our areas in search of the goal and it somehow worked for them.
“Despite that, I still think we deserved to win and that was why I’m very disappointed. It was two points lost rather than one point gained for us.
“Luck was not on our side...I can only think that was the reason (for the outcome),” he added.
With that, Sabah moved into four points from three matches in the junior league, with one win, one draw and a defeat.
As for Perlis, who languish at the bottom of the table, it was their first point of the campaign.
The league will take a break until April 2 when Sabah will resume the season away to one of the favourites SSTMI Under-16.