Kota Kinabalu: The Sabah President Cup squad were given a walkover and awarded a 3-0 win without having to sweat after their opponents Penang SDM failed to show up at the Likas Stadium on Thursday. Hundreds of supporters who turned up at the stadium to watch Sabah play their final home match were left disappointed.
Assistant coach Matasan Ahmad when met at the stadium said he was a bit disappointed with the turn of event as the team was looking to score as many goals as possible against the bottom club team.
"It was very unfortunate that his thing happened.
The earlier information I received was that the Penang players and officials were already at the airport this morning. The coach had called me at 9am and informed me that they were waiting for the sponsors to turn up to pass them the tickets and asked me to get ready for their arrival."
"The next call I received at noon was that they had decided to cancel the trip as they were unable to receive their tickets.
It was bad for us as we were all geared up for the match."
He said their target was to score as many goals as possible in the match to try to narrow the goal difference margin with Kedah who are currently leading the Group 'A' table.
"Kedah are two points ahead of us at the moment and we have a match in hand. So if we win the next match against T-Team then we will top the group."
"But if Kedah draw in their last match while we also manage a draw against the plucky side who are trying their best to grab the fourth spot in order to make it to the knockout stage then goal difference will be counted." With Sabah already having confirmed their position in the top two, the team will next meet either Perak or Terengganu who have booked their places in the next round with their third and fourth placing in Group 'B'.
Meanwhile, with that victory Sabah has achieved a record of sort, as they were unbeaten at home throughout the group matches with 11 wins and a draw.
They will wrap up their group match against T-Team away on May 24 before the quarterfinals, which is likely to be held early next month.
