Kota Kinabalu: Sabah FC II came from behind to thrash Kelantan Darul Naim FC 4-1 in the MFL Cup competition at Likas Stadium, Tuesday night.
The win was also Sabah FC II’s second in the competition following the 2-1 victory over Kuala Lumpur FC in January.
The match which started at 9pm saw Sabah FC II conceding an early goal in the 15th minute when their offside trap was caught short.
However, it only took 15 minutes for them to draw level after Hamran Peter volleyed home from a Farhan Roslan’s cross when the Kelantan Darul Naim FC’s goalkeeper failed to make a clean catch.
They then snatched the lead through a free header by Faheed Naqqeu Ishak from a free kick taken by Irfan Fazail in the 54th minute.
The third and fourth goals were scored by Farhan Roslan in the 61st and 72 minute as a result of similar fast counter-attack moves started from Sabah FC II’s own half.
Head coach Billyton Vun praised the players for their fighting spirit and commitment to overcome the odds for the win.
“I must give full credit to the players for the win tonight. We have experienced many problems in training during this fasting month.
“We were unable to get the right field to train at night, so we had to train at 5pm and there was only one hour available.
“At the same time, we can’t push ourselves too hard with high-intensity training sessions during this fasting month,” he said.
He added that the performance of his players surprised him despite the obstacles faced by the team in their preparation.
“It was an impressive performance from the players and the result came as a surprise considering the MFL Cup is very competitive apart from the MFL League.
“Furthermore, there were long gaps between matches and unlike teams in the Peninsula, we were unable to have a series of intense friendly matches during the breaks for our micro-training.”
He also said several players in the team look very promising.
“I can see that some of the young players have very bright prospects in football. They are very disciplined in training and display fighting spirit and team spirit during matches. They are also fearless and full of confidence.”
