Kota Kinabalu: Sabah FC clinched another Borneo derby win over Kuching City FC in the Super League tie at the State Stadium in Kuching on Wednesday.
The 2-1 victory was also the second for the Rhinos following their first round 2-1 win at home in May.
Both teams went into the match in good form and created several chances in the first half.
The home side could have taken an early lead but were twice denied by Dominic Tan with timely interceptions to prevent the ball from going in.
The Rhinos raised their game at the restart and Saddil Ramdani had the first opportunity but fired over the bar instead with goalkeeper Shahril Sa’ari stranded on the ground.
Darren Lok followed suit minutes later with a header from a corner kick delivered by Saddil that hit the crossbar.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 63rd minute when a free kick taken by Saddil evaded everybody and went in at the far post for Sabah FC to take the lead.
There was plenty of action but no goal to show until the 82nd minute when substitute Zahril Nizwan fired a shot past Damien Lim to level the score.
However, it was a short-lived joy for the hosts as Gabriel Peres restored the lead that proved to be the winning goal four minutes later with a towering header from Farhan Roslan’s corner kick.
Sabah FC’s interim coach Alto Linus was delighted to grab all three points and praised the players’ fighting spirit.
“It was quite difficult for us to play against Kuching City who have very good momentum and also have the advantage of playing at home.
“Thankfully today we managed to bring back the three points and credit must be given to all our players tonight.
“They came out with high confidence and family spirit, that’s why we were able to get the result,” he said.
The three points also enabled Sabah FC to take over the second spot in the table from Selangor FC.
Both teams have 29 points but Sabah FC have a better goal difference while Selangor FC have a game in hand.
Meanwhile, Sabah FC and Kuching City FC will meet again in the quarter-finals of the Malaysia Cup first leg tie in Kuching on December 15.
