Another blow to Malaysia Cup hopes

Another blow to Malaysia Cup hopes

KUCHING - Sarawak 2

LionsXII 1

By day, the Sarawak Stadium is an empty concrete-coloured bowl, an ageing arena of rusty railings, cobwebs and lizard droppings scattered all over the stands that transforms into a cauldron of hate under the floodlights.

To win the Malaysia Cup, the LionsXII have to win in rickety old grounds like these, where the home sides are waiting to devour the Malaysian Super League (MSL) champions from Singapore.

And eaten alive were V. Sundramoorthy's men, who fell 1-2 to the Crocodiles before 20,000 fanatical fans to leave their Cup campaign hanging by a thread.

This, after going 16 matches unbeaten before losing their final MSL game 0-2 at Kelantan. With this result, the LionsXII have now recorded two defeats and a draw in their last three fixtures.

Just like how a determined Kedah forced a 2-2 draw in the opening Group D match last Tuesday, last night's defeat in Kuching came as Sarawak showed they were the hungrier side.

They may be near invincible in the MSL but with the coveted Malaysia Cup now at stake, hostile crowds, sneaky elbows, studs-up tackles and shirt tugs are now to be expected.

Although Robert Alberts' flat 4-4-2 is primitive by the standards of modern tactics, what his team lacked in refinement, they made up for it with hard running and liberal doses of brute force.

From right midfielder's Zamri Morshidi's long throw that caused confusion in the box in the 11th minute, left-back Shakir Hamzah headed past goalkeeper Izwan Mahbud and into his own net.

Much has been said about the absence of captain Shahril Ishak, who is nursing a bruised knee, and the playmaker's introduction after half-time gradually brought the LionsXII out of their shell.

Sensing the tide turning against their favour, Sarawak whipped out the darker arts of their footballing arsenal with striker Muamer Salibasic's dives driving the already fired-up crowd into a frenzy.

And in the 69th minute, he goaded substitute forward Shahfiq Ghani into a slap inside the box that gave referee Syed Azahar Syed Kamar no choice but to point to the spot and give the Singaporean the red card.

Captain Joseph Kalang Tie stepped up and drilled the ball into the bottom corner to extend the hosts' lead and cue fireworks and bedlam the stands.

LionsXII coach V. Sundramoorthy said: "I was shocked by the red card. Shafiq let the team down. He should learn to keep his cool. I will have to talk to him but this is not about pointing fingers."

The LionsXII netted a consolation in the 76th minute when centre-back Safuwan Baharudin scrambled home midfielder Hariss Harun's cross from the left.

There is no disguising the fact that the MSL champions have now dropped points against Kedah and Sarawak, two teams from the second division.

A jubilant Alberts said: "This is a very good result. We are now very motivated because we beat the MSL champions."

A disappointed Sundram noted: "In a short tournament like this, you need to perform. We started slowly and gave away a very soft first goal.

"We may have 55 per cent possession but we still need to put the ball into the net."

The team's next game, which they need to win to revive their faltering Cup campaign, is on Tuesday, when they face Perak in Ipoh.

meng@sph.com.sg


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