SMK Lundu win SFDP under 18 football tourney

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UNDER PRESSURED: SMK Bako under pressure from SMK Lundu’s Mohd Zubir Isa (left) in SFDP Inter- Centre at State Stadium Field D yesterday. SMK Lundu defeated SMK Bako 1-0 in the finals to lift the under 18 SFDP title.

KUCHING: SMK Lundu emerged champion in the 3rd Sarawak Football Development Programme (SFDP) inter-centre football tourney after narrowly defeated SMK Bako 1-0 in the finals yesterday.

Coached by Patrick Hong, the win is third time lucky for the deserving champions after trying very to bring the coveted trophy the past two years.

The school was a semi-finalist in 2010 and 2011.

In the keenly contested final, Ady Edmond became the toast of his team after scoring the solitary goal in the 7th minute.

“The win is very meaningful to us after trying the past two years,” Hong said on his players’ performance who have matured to become both tactically and technically in their games.

“My players have gained much experience from previous events and they had trained rigorously to build their stamina, mental and physical strength.

According to Hong, the training programme is important for the players to survive the ‘carnival’ type of tournament which required teams to score in the first 10 minute of the first half to gain the advantage.

Hong also revealed the win is another achievement for the school which won the recent Kuching MSNS under 18 inter-school championship last June.

Two new faces, 17-year-old Mohd Zubir Isa and 14-year-old Mohd Ezzul Haziq, a goalkeeper were included in the line up to beef up the team for this tournament.

Fifteen schools took part in the two-day tournament jointly organised by SFDP, Football Association of Sarawak (FAS) and Sarawak Education Department.

State education director Abdillah Adam who graced the closing and prize giving ceremony called on the players to become role models for other students.