Kota Kinabalu: Head coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee admitted that Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) FC were just too good for his side after they were thrashed 1-5 by the defending Super League champions at Likas Stadium on Wednesday.
The Rhinos started on a good note when Jafri Firdaus Chew scored his first goal for the club with a powerful strike in the 13th minute.
The visitors equalised three minutes later through Juan Muniz’s spot kick after Rawilson Batuil was penalised for a foul inside the box before Bergson da Silva put them ahead at half time in the 25th minute.
Heberty Fernandes then extended the JDT lead three minutes after the restart. Bergson, who was given too much room, added his second in the 62nd minute before completing his hat-trick in the 73rd minute.
“We lost the game almost immediately after we had scored the goal.
“The moment of the game changed after that goal with many incidents happening including injuries and rough plays that affected our rhythm.
“We have to admit that JDT have many quality players and we failed to take control in the second half.
“As we tried our best to search for the equaliser, they created more opportunities than what we were expecting,” said Ong.
He also said the absence of several first team players including Saddil Ramdani may have contributed to the one-sided affair.
“They were all suffering from injuries and we couldn’t feature them but we needed to trust the players that we still have and play them.
“But against high quality opponents and currently the best team in the country, we can see that our replacements just could not match up to those injured.
“We can also see the big gap between JDT and us, and their depth when they can make the changes with quality players available.”
Despite the loss, Ong is still confident the team can finish among the top three in the league this season.
“We are still (among) the top five teams in the league. There are six more matches to play and I believe we still have the chance to improve our position if we can keep winning matches from now on.”
Sabah FC are currently fifth with 36 points, four behind Kedah FC in third place but who have a game in hand.
Their next match is at home to Kuala Lumpur FC on Sunday (August 13).
