It was a night of missed chances for Sarawak on Tuesday. — Photo by Chimon Upon
Datuk K Rajagobal
KUCHING: Sarawak were left to rue missed chances in their 2-1 home defeat to Felda United on Tuesday.
Head coach Datuk K Rajagobal, however, remains optimistic that the Crocs will bounce back from the latest setback.
Despite suffering consecutive defeats in the first two matches of the new season, he took heart with his side’s encouraging performance which saw his players creating many good chances.
With 14 new additions to the squad in the close season including four new foreign imports, he believes it is a matter of time before the team starts to gel.
“Our players put up a more energetic performance when compared to our previous match against PDRM last Saturday.
“It was obvious, especially in the first half, that the team were dominating and creating clear-cut chances. It was unfortunate that we fail to translate this into goals.
“It is always difficult when you don’t take your chances earlier on as opposing would begin to settle into the game and grow in confidence.
“Nevertheless, individual mistakes in the defence had cost us both goals. This is something we cannot afford as we build into the season. I hope the players will learn from this and move forward,” Rajagobal told reporters after the match at Stadium Negeri.
Club side Felda United retained pole position in the Malaysia Super League courtesy of the winning goal from Francis Forkey Doe in the 84th minute. Zah Rahan Krangar opened accounts for The Fighters in the 49th minute before Junior Aparecido equalised for Sarawak via a 76th minute penalty.
Right from the first whistle Felda United had to withstand a barrage of attacks from Sarawak’s attacking quartet of Gilmar Jose Da Silva Filho, Ashri Chuchu, Shreen Tambi and K Gurusamy. In the 10th minute Shreen missed securing the lead for the Crocs after failing to connect a pin point pass from Gilmar.
Sarawak’s attacking display continued but only to be let down by poor finishing.
At the half hour mark, Gilmar was brought down in the penalty box but match referee Suhaimi Mat Hassan waved to play on. The striker had the opportunity to equalise in the 63rd minute but his shot was parried away by the goalkeeper. He found the net a minute later only for his effort to be ruled offside.
“I am confident the team will bounce back from this back-to-back defeat to register our first win. We hope the players will learn from their mistakes. They have to be aware that we cannot give the opposition a lot of space to create chances especially when playing stronger teams.
“Despite the result, I am happy with the performance. We accept the fact that we had lost and our attacks did not come to the mark. We have to improve on our attacking play and we need to get positive results, especially when playing away, to build up confidence in our players,” Rajagobal added.
He explained that Gilmar was carrying an injury in the game while Ndumba Makeche was not fully match fit after coming back from injury.
“I have gone through this situation before, we have a long journey ahead of us. It would normally take about five to six games for us to have better evaluation on how the team is gelling,” the former national coach assured.
The Crocs will next play Kelantan away this Friday.