Levy Madinda scores the crucial winner after Rhinos teammate Amri Yahya’s sublime effort cancels out Nazirul Naim’s first half opener for Perak FC.
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah FC fought back from a goal down to beat Perak FC 2-1 in the Super League tie at the Likas Stadium on Sunday.
Levy Madinda came off the bench in the second half to grab the crucial winning goal after Amri Yahya had earlier cancelled out Nazirul Naim Che Hassim’s first half strike with a sublime effort.
Head coach Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto hailed the players’ never-say-die attitude in the comeback win that allowed the Rhinos to conclude the first round campaign on a positive note.
“We created many chances in the first half but again we conceded the opening goal from our own mistake.
“However, the players did not let the incident disrupt their focus which was very important…they fought on and continued to concentrate on their tasks on the field.
“At the dressing room (during half time break), I told the players if they were to turn the tables on Perak, they have to play as a team…like one big family.
“Azzizan (Nordin) had just become a father and I said if we are a family, let’s win the match as a gift to Azzizan.
“We did just that and we are very happy with the three points won,” Kurniawan told reporters after the match.
Sabah FC went into the match on the back of a three-match unbeaten run but with two of the matches ended in a draw, they needed a victory to lift them away from the relegation zone.
However, they found themselves trailing after 26 minutes when after conceding a needless free-kick just outside the box, Nazirul stepped up to curl the ball home beyond the reach of goalkeeper Robson Rendy Rining.
Kurniawan sent on foreign imports Sam Johnson and Madinda at the start of the second half to freshen up the Rhinos’ attacking fluency and the move paid off handsomely.
In the 64th minute, Sabah FC were rewarded for the fighting quality when Amri superbly controlled Alto Linus’ cross from the left before the veteran forward expertly volleyed home to make it 1-1.
The night got even better for Sabah FC in the 78th minute when Gabon international midfielder Madinda’s clever low free-kick beat Perak FC’s five-man wall and into the bottom left corner, which proved to be the crucial winner.
“It had been our plan all along to start Sam and Levy in the second half. In the opening period, we have Amri, Maxsius (Musa) and Saddil (Ramdani) up front…we tried to use their pace to trouble the visiting defence and tried making as much through balls.
“When Sam and Levy came on they brought different qualities, we wanted to take advantage of the situation where our opponents were getting tired.
“We had our strategy but on that night, it was all about the players’ hard work on the pitch,” said Kurniawan while adding sending on Madinda was a gamble as the player had just returned from injury that forced him to miss 12 days of training.
Asked on the match against Melaka United FC at the Likas Stadium on May 5, Kurniawan said he would have to make assessment and evaluation of the players before making further decision.
“We faced a tight schedule with three matches in the space of one week. We will have an analysis of the squad’s performance and we will try to rectify any weaknesses before the next game.
“For now, we will want to enjoy the win but starting tomorrow (Monday), the focus will be on the game against Melaka United,” he said.
For the record, Sabah FC will play three consecutive games at the Likas Stadium starting with Sunday’s win over Perak FC and followed by Melaka United and Kedah Darul Aman FC (May 8).
Sabah FC moved up to eighth spot in the 12-team standing on 13 points after registering three wins, four draws and four losses at the halfway mark of the country’s elite football league.