Kota Kinabalu: Sabah FC ended the Super League season with a whimper as they were beaten 0-1 by Perak FC at home on Sunday night.
They started without Dominic Tan in defence and his place was taken by Hanafie Tokyo Hasim and midfielder Mohd Syukri Baharun was also given his first start in the senior team this season, but only appeared for 33 minutes before being substituted by Rusdi Roslan.
Despite the home advantage, it was the visitors who looked more dangerous going forward.
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Their constant pressure finally paid off in the 29th minute when Farris Izdiham’s cross was put into his own net by Rawilson Batuil, who was given the skipper’s armband on the night.
To make matters worse, Sabah FC were reduced to 10 men in the 42nd minute when Dinesh Rajasingam was sent off after he was found to have lifted his boot too high that hit Daniel Hakimi’s head as a result.
Jafri Chew could have scored the equaliser in the opening minute of the second half but drilled his shot wide instead.
Although Sabah FC created more chances in the second half, it was Perak FC who almost doubled their lead in the 72nd minute when a through ball by Syahmi Shamsudin was intercepted by Hanafie Tokyo before reaching the feet of Farris Izdiham.
The loss was Sabah FC’s sixth of the season. They finished in third place with 40 points from 11 wins and seven draws, while Perak FC were in seventh place with 30 points.
Rhinos head coach Martin Stano said he decided to field some youngsters for the match after confirming their third place status with a match to spare.
“It has been a very long season and of course we wanted to end with the victory, but we were unlucky today.
“After securing the third spot, we wanted to give chances to a few of the local players, but it was a nervy start and we were unable to create chances in the opening minutes.
“The own goal conceded followed by the red card incident made the task to come back even harder.
“We made some changes in the second half. It seemed to work and we almost get the breakthrough at the start.
“We played a much better game and salute to the players for trying their best to fight until the very end,” he said.