Joseph Kalang Tie after a tackle last Saturday. — Photo by Muhd Rais Sanusi.
KUCHING: Sarawak’s coaching staff should be happy with the performance of the Crocs so far. The team has stayed unbeaten home or away for the last five matches (FA Cup ties included). They are currently in the top echelon of the 12-team Super League with 3 wins from five games.
The latest was the bruising 1-0 victory over Perak at Stadium Negeri on last Saturday.
And yet no one is really that pleased. In fact, the coaching staff are downright uphappy.
Perak players had played a robust game and made many rough tackles.
Speaking to The Borneo Post yesterday, a visibly upset and worried Robert Alberts said match officials have to be more protective of players during matches.
He pointed out that at least five Crocs were added to the injured list from the Perak match alone.
If no further action or measure is taken from this point on, he feared, Sarawak might be victims of harsh play in the coming matches.
Many Sarawak fans at the stadium or watching the match live on national television are fuming that the Perak players only escaped with four yellow cards for that match.
There was also the related matter of questionable decisions or alleged unprofessional conduct shown by referee Sukri Abdul Rahman.
Sarawak’s midfielder Junior Eldstal was sent off in the 70th minute after receiving a second yellow, much to the fury of the home crowd.
He was penalised for alleged time wasting after kicking the ball away when the referee decided to award a free kick to Perak.
“I don’t think Junior deserves his red card as he did nothing wrong and he did not hear the referee blow the whistle. Besides, Junior did not kick the ball away out of anger or anything as he really did not realise (that the referee had blown the whistle),” said Alberts.
There were allegations that the referee had shouted profanities at the Sarawak players. He also reportedly told Sarawak defender Gabor Gyepes to “cool off” during the match as he was earning big wages as a player.
Alberts revealed that a report has been filed concerning the match and submitted to Football Association of Sarawak (FAS) and it is up to them now to take further action.