Keeper the hero as Sabah make it to semi-finals
Published on: Sunday, September 16, 2018
Kota Kinabalu: Goalkeeper Sakri Masri was the hero for the Sabah football team with two spot kick saves as they made it to the semi-finals with a heart stopping 7-6 penalty win over Pahang in their quarter-final clash at Stadium TLDM in Lumut, Saturday.The team, who had started so well in the group matches, found themselves in unfamiliar situation after going 2-0 down inside 23 minutes.Pahang's skipper Faisal Abd Halim opened the scoring in the 5th minute while Muhd Jadulhaq Sairul Fauzi added the second in the 23rd minute.
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Sabah came out with a vengeance in the second half. Hamran Peter reduced the deficit in the 62nd minute, and within five minutes they equalised with a goal from Stanley Sulong.Hamran then added his second with a spectacular volley from an acute angle from the left side of the post for Sabah to take the lead.Aidil Safee could have added a third in the 85th minute but he missed the spot kick as a result of a foul on Ariusdius Jais.The miss could have been costly as Pahang's Badrul Amin Jesmi snatched an equaliser deep into injury time to drag the match into extra time.
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With both teams unable to find the target during the 30 minutes period, penalty shootout was staged and Azinizam Ruslih scored the winning kick after Sakri remarkable saves from the last two Pahang penalty takers.Coach Johnny Dominicus who turned 45 on Saturday was lost for words after the match.
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"It is the best ever birthday present for me. The players played their heart out and they showed their fighting spirit despite we were down 2-0 at one stage."The late goal conceded also did not demoralised them and they fought until the very end, and it was a great win."Meanwhile, team manager Benedict Asmat was more cautious with the result.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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