GOAL MOUTH MELEE: Sarawak’s President Cup team (in red) in tight formation during the free kick taken by Selangor players in their match played at State Stadium, Petra Jaya yesterday. The match ended in a scoreless draw but the point in the bag helped to improve the Young Crocs’ position in the table standing. — Photo by Harry Ilias
KUCHING: Young Crocs’ home match against Selangor at State Stadium, Petra Jaya yesterday ended in a scoreless draw but the valuable point had helped the home team to move up the President’s Cup table standing.
Slowly but surely, the Young Crocs had moved up to the 14th position after maintaining their three-match unbeaten run so far.
Just last month, the state junior was the last among the 18 teams competing in the President’s Cup league.
Football Association of Sarawak (FAS) president, Datu Sudarsono Osman must be a very happy man right now after his decision of letting the team to takes its time to settle down and to boost their morale had paid off.
The team under coach, Mohd Farhan Abdullah had registered two previous wins which have somehow lifted the players’ morale and the team’s defence had continued to improve with no goals were conceded the past three matches.
Kudos to Young Crocs’ last man, Florian Rison Laes who had worked very hard together with the defenders and the lanky goalkeeper became the toast of his team after saving a penalty kick in the previous away match against Kedah.
They narrowly defeated Kedah 1 – 0 with Eugene Thompson Thomas scoring the solitary goal.
In yesterday’s match, Eugene and fellow striker, Mohd Hisyam Afifi were tightly marked by the visitors’ hardworking defenders who left little room for them to move.
State skipper, Ahmad Faiz Bujang’s attempt in the 56th minute almost found the net but was denied by Selangor’s last man, Mohd Anis Ismail.
They will play away against Kuala Lumpur in Bangi next Monday and another victory will enable the Young Crocs to potentially move closer to the top 10 of the table standings.