KUCHING: With only four more matches to play and running the risk of getting relegated to M3 League next year, the Sarawak Premier League team under coach Mohamad Denny Da’ai must win against Negeri Sembilan tonight.
The match will be played at 8.15 at the Sarawak Stadium in Petra Jaya.
Losing tonight’s match means Sarawak will continue to stay at bottom of the Premier League’s table with just 10 points, but if they win and Kelantan lose their match against PBMS on July 15 then Sarawak will move up to the 10th position.
Kelantan are with 11 points and in the 10th position of the league. But looking at their current performance and despite playing at home, it will be a tough for Sarawak to turn the table against Negeri Sembilan tonight.
Negeri Sembilan are currently in 6th position of the league with 22 points, and they are just too strong for Sarawak.
What is disappointing is that their new Brazilian attacking midfielder Rodrigo Amorim Oliveira has yet to score any goal in the last two matches he played.
Denny has said it several times that his team is new with young players, but at the least their fans wanted is for the team to continue playing in the Premier League next year. For Sarawak to be among the five teams is almost impossible as teams like UKM (16 points), PBMS (18 points) and PDRM (21 points) are already way ahead.
And for that, Denny said he will field most of the local players in tonight’s match.
“Opportunities will be given to the local players. We want the Ngap Sayot spirit to prevail in the team,” he said.
Therefore there will be no place in the first 11 for Rodrigo who failed to impress in the match against UKM and Sabah.
What is most disappointing is that his performance is no better than the local players.
Meanwhile, Denny has confirmed that all his players are injury free except for Firdaus.
Sarawak must buck up in their last four games to avoid ‘play-off’ match. Two teams at the bottom of the table of the Premier League and two top teams from the M3 League will square off in the ‘play-off’ for two slots in next year Premier League.
Sarawak and Kelantan are two teams at the bottom of the Premier League, while Kuching FA and Kelantan United are the two top teams in the M3 League.
