The late afternoon match saw the State squad conceding defeat to the Premier League outfit after losing to two first half goals, including one from the spot.

Shazlan Alias scored the opener in the 40th minute for the host before their foreign signing Patrick R. Wleh made it 2-0 from the spot seconds before the half time break.

The defeat left Sabah with five matches without a win on the road.

Sticking to his word, Sabah head coach Justin Ganai started the game with his strongest lineup, but found out that it was not good enough to humble their opponent, who scored twice five minutes before the break.

Azizon Abd Kadir started ahead of Syed Adney Syed Hussien at the goal while his back four lineup saw familiar faces such as Md Reithuddin Ag Emran, Mohd Fariss Azlan Mat Isa, Sumardi Hajalan and Ronny Harun.

While in midfield, he sticked to Zainizam Marjan and Brendan Gan with Shahrudin Yakup on the right and Md Rozaimi Abd Rahman on the left.

When contacted, Justin said they have themselves to blame for their failure to translate their chances into goals.

“We were in control of the game, and had two chances, but their (Sime Darby) goalkeeper (Redzuan Harun) was in top form. He played superbly.

“We conceded a sloppy first goal, which shouldn’t have been a goal, but the second was the killer blow as it was scored just before the first half whistle.

Justin said, the players tried their best to overcome the deficit in the remaining 45 minutes, but could not find the much-needed goals.

In the game, Justin made three substitutions bringing in Alto Linus, Bobby Gonzales and Shahrul Azhar Ture from Ronny, Leopold and Sharudin respectively.

“After trailing by two goals, we made changes and that was why Alto was playing further forward rather than at the back. It was hard to break them down because they defended in numbers to protect their lead.

According to Justin, they created at least three good chances at scoring including two of them with only the keeper to beat.

In another occasion, he pointed out Rozaimi’s free-kick was brilliantly saved by the Sime Darby custodian Redzuan.

“I guess it was just one of those days. We created enough chances to win the game, but just could not score. It was just not our day,” said Justin.

The defeat has left Sabah to focus on their Super League campaign, and later the Malaysia Cup.

Next, Justin said he will prepare the team to face the national side in a friendly at the Likas Stadium on Feb 24 before they resume their Super League challenge playing host to Johor FC on March 3.

Shahruddin was the saviour as he scored two goals to win a point for Sabah.

The State team played the last 18 minutes with a man short after Australian import Brandan Gan received his marching orders with his second yellow card for kicking Kedah captain Baddrol Bakhtiar in front of the referee.

Sabah broke the deadlock in the 22nd minute with a flick goal by Shahrudin Yaakub which saw his inswinger corner kick going in with the help of a Kedah player’s head.

Their joy was short lived however, as seven minutes later, Kedah drew level with a corner kick by captain Baddrol which Syed Adney Syd Hussin failed to deal with allowing Khyril Muhymeen Zambri to head home.

Kedah extended their lead less than 10 minutes later and Baddrol again was the creator as his short pass allowed Faizal Abu Baker to place his shot into the net.

Sabah started the second half with Leopold Alphonso coming in for Alton Linus.

The youngster’s presence was immediate as his lob beat the keeper but hit the crossbar within two minutes after the restart.

In the 57th minute, Leopold received a pass from Shahruddin and he delivered a cross into the penalty area that deflected onto Shahruddin’s path by Bobby Gonzales and the new signing this season made no mistake to drive home his second goal on the night.

The draw was the fourth for Sabah since the start of the season and they dropped a place to 11th in the league table with six points in six matches.

Their next match is against bottom of the table Kuala Lumpur at the Likas Stadium next Tuesday on Feb 14.

According to a statement from the FAM yesterday, investigations carried out by the FAM Disciplinary Committee over players and officials of the Negeri Sembilan President’s Cup squad, revealed their involvement in match-fixing.

The statement said four players – Mohd Yatim Abdullah, D. Adrian, Norhairi Abdul Rahman, Muhammad Zulfadhlie Mohamad A’ashari – were suspended for one year while Muhammad Zaidi Othman, Hamirul Fahamie Abu Yazid, Anwarul Hafiz Ahmad, Muhammad Haikal Mohamad Nazri, Suhairy Johari, Muhammad Rizqi Azman and Mohd Hafiz Mohd Nor were suspended for five years from any football activities at national level.

“Appeal can only be made after one year and via a written appeal to the FAM,” said FAM.

FAM also stated that Negeri Sembilan’s President’s Cup coach Yusarman Yusof was given a life ban from football activities and can only submit an appeal after 10 years.

The statement added that a number of players and officials from the President’s Cup squads of SDM Penang, Johor MP Muar and Terengganu T-Team have been temporarily suspended pending the FAM Disciplinary Committee’s investigation.

FAM secretary-general Datuk Azzuddin Ahmad had recently announced that the FAM had suspended 18 players and officials for fixing President’s Cup matches last year.

A bribery scandal which had rocked Malaysian football back in 1994 and 1995, saw more than 100 players banished.

Meanwhile, time may be running out for T-Team to sign foreign players before the Feb 13 dateline, set by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM).

T-Team coach Yunus Alif said though four foreign players had undergone trials with the team over the past week or two, none had impressed him.

“They did not match the credentials on paper…in fact they were only on par with local players,” he said.

Yunus said according to a players’ agent, a number of foreign players would be brought in today to attend trials.

T-Team are looking for a replacement after terminating the services of Zambian import Zacharia Simukonda who had once been a prolific striker with Perlis.

Yunus said if T-Team failed to sign a foreign player before the dateline, they would have to wait for the second registration window in April.

He added that it was difficult to sign a good player since most of them had already been snapped up by teams playing in the M-League.

With the exit of Simukonda, T-Team currently have only Bosnian import Bojan Petric to spearhead the team’s challenge in the Super League.

DOWN … Sabah’s Michael Baird falls to the ground after clashing with Kelantan’s Aziz Ismail during the Super League tie at the Likas Stadium last night. DOWN … Sabah’s Michael Baird falls to the ground after clashing with Kelantan’s Aziz Ismail during the Super League tie at the Likas Stadium last night.

The home side was denied the victory by the goalpost at the dead when Leopold Alfonso Otong’s powerful attempt from about 20 metres hit the right side of the post.

But it was a game that could have gone either way as they managed to create enough chances to take the game into their own hands only to find out that they had to settle for a point.

The first half was an exciting affair with lots of action, and it was the visitors to who had the first chance in the game when national striker Norshahrul Idlan Talaha saw his 12th minute close range attempt hit the side netting after he found space inside the box with Sabah custodian Syed Adney Syed Hussien already beaten.

Then a minute later, Sabah had their first try through flanker Shahrudin Yakup, who unleashed a long range attempt that went straight into the keeper Khairul Fahmi Che Mat’s arms.

In the 20th minute, it was Sharudin again who tested Khairul for the second time.

This time, his waist-high attempt was blocked by the national custodian.

At the half hour mark, Kelantan could have taken the lead, but fortunately for Sabah, Mohamed Ghadar’s attempt was blocked by Adney.

With five minutes remaining into the half time break, Ghadar squandered another opportunity as his shot went inches wide.

But it did not end there as Sabah was presented with a golden opportunity to take the lead.

Alto Linus sent a perfect cross that found Bobby Gonzales at the far post, but unfortunately his weak attempt went wide.

After the break, it was the same scenario and Sabah had at least one genuine penalty claim when Bobby Gonzales was brought down inside the box in the 67th minute only to find the match official waving play on.

In the 59th minute, Michael Baird saw his 25metre try palmed away by the steady Fahmi.

And in the closing seconds of the game, Leopold, who came in for Bobby Gonzales earlier on, was presented with the chance to give over 10,000 home fans something to cheer for, only to find his attempt hit the goalpost.

With the draw, Sabah moved up one rung to 10th placing in the 14-team standings on six points from one win, three draws and two defeats.

The 18 comprised six players each from Negri Sembilan, T-Team ( Tganu) and MP Muar. The suspension term was based on their level of involvement, while one team’s President Cup coach has been banned for life.

Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) deputy president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah announced the decision at a press conference here Saturday, after chairing the exco meeting.

The FAM will reveal the names of those banned on Wednesday.

source

Baird then scored a goal in the 73rd minute off a cross from Shahruddin to cut the lead.

Both players then exchanged role as Baird crossed for Shahruddin in the 81st minute and his header produced an own goal to bring Sabah level at 2-2 until full time.

Though it was commendable that Sabah saved themselves from defeat they should really defend better in a deadball situation.

Next match 7th Feb 2012 against Kelantan at home.

Justin who was shouting out instructions at the top his lungs to the boys throughout the match was lost for words after the match.

Team Manager Hj Shariman Abdullah and his assistant Yahya Kassim were also in sombre mood and had deep discussions among themselves in the changing room.

The majority of the 10,000 strong crowd that flooded the Likas Stadium were also left disappointed by the result.

Nobody would have predicted that the team would lose the match as on paper Sabah had stood a very good chance of defeating the young Republic team who were handicapped by injuries and suspension to a few of their key players.

The home team meanwhile, were in high spirit after an impressive performance against table topping T-Team in their away game played days earlier, while the young Lions struggled to beat a weak Kuala Lumpur team 2-1 at home.

The match started with the visiting team taking the initiative to attack Sabah’s half. Without any notable strikers in the team, Sabah were in no danger of conceding a goal until the 20th minute when the Young Lions were given a free kick at the right flank.

The free kick could have been avoided if only captain Reithuddin Emran did not lose his cool and decided to kick Yasir Hanapi while he was on the ground after the ball was already out of play.

The clinically taken header by Hariss Harun from Shahdan Sulaiman’s free kick proved to be decisive in the heated match.

Hariss was given a free header in the box that rebounded off Mafry Balang and into the net with Sabah custodian Azizon Abd Kadir stranded on the ground.

The goal woke the Sabah players up and they responded almost immediately with K.Thanaraj’s free-kick just whizzing over the crossbar, before Michael Baird ‘s shot was denied by Isa Halim with a block.

Both teams were soon reduced to ten men after both Mafry and Irwan Shah received red cards for an off the ball incident.

The home team were in total control of the match but they just could not penetrate the well organised Singapore defence.

Even on several occasions when they managed to have a shot at the Lions’ goal, in form keeper Izwan Mahbud was there to deny Sabah’s hopes of salvaging a point.

As a result of the loss, Sabah collected only four points from four matches played and are now in tenth place in the league with one win, one draw and two losses.

source

The homesters gave all they could, but failed to find the much needed equaliser after Hariss Harun had put the visitors ahead with a 19th minute header.

The defeat, which is their second after four games into the season, left the more than 10, 000 fans disappointed.

The game also saw both sides playing with 10 men after Mafry Balang and Irwan Shah were given the marching orders following a scuffle in the 33rd minute.

It was a game that Sabah dominated throughout, but never looked dangerous as the Lions XII packed their defence in numbers.

The visitors stunned the home fans when Hariss scored the opener with a header that saw it deflect off a Sabah defender before the ball went into the Sabah net with keeper Azizon Abd Kadir caught off guard.

At the half hour mark, a nice one-two between Bobby Gonzales, Brendan Gan and Michael Baird saw Sabah presented with a chance to draw level, but only to find Michael’s attempt from just outside the six-yard box blocked by a defender.

After the break, Sabah doubled their efforts, but Lions XII stoutly defended their half and happily returned home with three points in their bag.