KUCHING: Fans here were generally happy with Sarawak’s performance against Police despite the 0-0 draw in the Premier League opener at Sarawak Stadium in Petra Jaya on Monday night.Bujang Aloi, speaking to The Borneo Post after the match, said the team could gain promotion to the top flight Super League if they continued to improve as the season progressed.
“However, we should also bear in mind that team morale could be adversely affected by the lack of money.
“If the current management could ensure prompt payment of player salaries throughout the season, it’s not impossible to move up,” he reckoned.
He also hoped new coach Mohd Zaki Shaikh Ahmad could improve the striking department.
“By and large, the defence was okay although in the first 10 minutes, the defenders seemed to be all over the place,” he said.
Bujang singled out Zamri Morshidi as one of the players with the flair to inject life to Sarawak’s attack.
“Zamri should have played from the first whistle, not Sufizal Ismail,” he reckoned, adding that he was puzzled why the latter, who is traditionally a striker, was playing as a winger.
On the draw despite the team dominating play, Bujang said he wouldn’t read too much into the result as according to him, Sarawak had either drawn or lost their league openers in the past.
“I personally don’t expect too much from the team in their first match,” he added.
Hafizul Hakim, another one of the 3,000-odd fans at the stadium for the opener, said: “I expect Sarawak to be better this year if the players can maintain their form.”
He was also happy with the way the team played on Monday night.
“Previously, they used to play long balls but this season, it appears they have adopted the ground ball approach,” Hafizul noted.
He hoped that something would be done to strengthen the team’s defence as well as attack.
“We need effective finishing because no matter how well we play, if we don’t score, we are just like any other bad teams.
“At the same time, we need to look into our defence which appears shaky,” he said, adding that the team also had to brush up on their free-kicks, all six of which did nothing to threaten the Police goal.
He said experienced players such as Zamri had added life to the team during the match.
“When Zamri came on in the second half, we could see the impact of his presence,” Hafizul said.
Meanwhile, Pheri Ujang said: “Police were dangerous on the counter-attack and Sarawak could’ve been punished had it been … no disrespect to Police … a stronger side they were facing.”
He added that the first half was a bore but the match came alive in the second especially with the home side creating scoring chances, but they failed to capitalise.