Crocs hit by early goals
KUCHING: A bigger turnout of 7,000-strong expectant home fans braved the rain to throng into the State Stadium, here yesterday to watch Sarawak take on Sabah in a Borneo derby in their second home match.
However it was not to be for the Crocs as the Rhinos early goal blitz gave Sarawak an uphill task to get the crucial points.
Sabah Serbian striker, Rodoljub Paunovi opened score for Sabah in the 35th minute followed quickly by another salvo from Sabri Sahar in the 37th minute.
Sarawak pulled a goal back through an 88th minute tap-in from Brazilian defender Pedro off a hard work by Salibasic who staved off three defenders to make the cross to the on rushing Pedro for his second goal of the season.
But the goal appeared a bit too late for the homesters to make a comeback for a point.
Sarawak started the derby game against Sabah FA by employing a 4-3-3 formation with talisman footballer Bobby Gonzales spearheading the formation.
Bobby was assisted by Hudson Dias De Jesus on the right and Nur Shamie Izwan Amin on the left flank in a 4-3-2-1 strategy which is a variation to the 4-3-3.
The midfield were manned Asrin Kalam, Awangku Mohd Hamirullnizam and Mohd Adam Shreen Tambi.
The defence saw the mainstay duo of Pedro Henrique Dias De Amorim or Pedro and Gibson Billy with Mohd Badrul Hisham and Stevenson Uggah on the left and right respectively.
The Rhinos opted for a more traditional 4-4-2 strategy with their two imported strikers Paunovi and Luca Milunovic up front in attack while their midfielder quartet comprised Sahar, Maxius Musa, Ricco Nigel Milus and Mohd Azizan Nordin.
Sabah captain Rawilson Baitul led the team from the centre of defence partnering Dendy Lowa in the middle as Taesu Park and Randy Barum @ Samson occupied the left and right sides of the back four in front of their goalkeeper Rozaimie Rohim.
The game started strongly for the home side with several good forays into their rivals box in the early 10 minutes but Sabah held on and made some counter attacks after absorbing the onslaughts from the Crocs.
The wet field caused by heavy rain just before the game saw both sides having difficulty to stay on their feet with many players losing their footing throughout the first half in the slippery field.
The second half saw the Crocs again coming out strong in the first 15 minutes with Sabah turning on a defensive mode to stage off the resurgent Crocs who scored twice ̶ the goals which could have made the difference ̶ but which were unfortunately disallowed for offside in the 69th and 76th minutes.
Sarawak changed their formation to match the 4-4-2 format of the Borneo visitors with Pedro who capitalised on his height created many moves to the front of Sabah goal.
In the 80th minute Muamer Salibasic came in to substitute a visibly worn out Awangku with Mohammad Alif Hassan sent in for injured Badrul.
Four minutes of extra time were added to the match but it wasn’t enough for the Crocs to save a point in their third defeat and second home game of the season in front of a hopeful home crowd.
