Sabah banking on German magic

Kota Kinabalu: Sabah will be banking on new German import Hendrik Helmke to produce magic as they take on Felda United in the Super League game at the Likas Stadium tonight.

It will be a huge game for the home team, as it will be the first time newly appointed team manager Yahya Kassim will be officially in charge of the squad.

'I have faith in my players'

Kota Kinabalu: The win against Pahang on Monday has provided the perfect tonic for the Sabah team in their upcoming Super League match against Harimau Muda in Likas this Sunday.

Justin Ganai has successfully transformed the team in less than a week and the players have shown a tremendous work rate and fighting spirit in the last two games they have played under him.

He laughed it off when asked whether he has used any special tricks to motivate the players that changed their attitude towards the game in such a short time.

"No, there is no magic involved. I always have faith in the quality of the players. Furthermore some of them have been following me since the reserve days and they proved to me I was right on the night."

He also said he is not a believer of giving the players too much instruction especially during the game and he only asked them to enjoy the match and play their best and it worked!

On the fluency of their attacks compared to the earlier match against Negeri Sembilan, he said it was because of the three midfielders he replaced in the starting line-up.

"I decided to put experience ahead of youth at the start as I want to make sure that we began the match well, and it is only in the second half that the young players are introduced and it definitely paid dividends," he said.

The one major concern for him now is the physical condition of some of the players where four players suffering from cramps during the Pahang match.

"I have sent out an SOS to fitness coach Sulaiman Arman to come onboard to help out on the fitness level of each of the players.

He is a well proven coach in that aspect. You only have to look at the current Reserve League players that are trained under him, they all are in top shape even after so many games played."

Justin also praised the performance of Zainizam Marjan who played the whole 90 minutes and his contribution in the match.

"I decided to use him from the start as I know of his capability and I am sure he has a point to prove to his critics as well.

Just look at the way he played in that match and it just showed that what a good player he still is even though he is one of the oldest in the squad."

Sabah sinking deeper

Kota Kinabalu: Things are looking ever-more gloomy for Sabah as they sink deeper into the relegation crack after coming out empty-handed from two of their most recent matches.

And despite the matches being tough challenges from two of the league's top sides, their back-to-back home defeats (against Selangor and Terengganu) can only be perceived as a sign of disorder that is threatening to drag Sabah back into the dwells of the Premier League.

Sabah's 2-1 defeat against Terengganu on Tuesday filled the hearts of all its fans with bitter disappointment.

The result marked their third straight home defeat and their seventh so far this season from 14 games played.

It was another night where Sabah had taken the lead only to later lose out completely on the points after allowing Terengganu to steal the victory from under their noses.

It was a case of dejavu as they let the same thing happen just a few days earlier when they met Selangor also at the Likas Stadium.

Sabah coach and manager, Gary Phillips, said the team played well and could have settled for a draw if they had played their chances better and if they were not denied an injury time penalty.

But even with the heavy predicament that Sabah is now facing (relegation threat looming over their heads), Gary remains poised, insisting that there is still a chance to turn things around.

He said the team is suffering with the decisions that never seem to go Sabah's way.

Sabah's next assignment will be to travel to take on Johor FC on Saturday before going up against Kedah on May 3.

After that it will be a stretch of three home matches against Negeri Sembilan (May 6), Pahang (May 9) and Harimau Muda A (May 15).

Sabah slump to second S'gor defeat

Sabah lost 2-1 and slumped to their second defeat against league leaders Selangor at the Likas Stadium last night.

The host started the match brightly and attacked the visitors goal from the first whistle. Their positive approach was rewarded in the 10th minute when offered a free kick taken just outside the penalty area by Hariri Mohd Safii, enabled Roslin Wasli to rise above two defenders to score from a powerful header.m Selangor tried hard to find to an equalizer after that, but the Sabah defense, with the return of their captain Reithudin Ag Emran in the centre, stood firm.

It was not until the 34th minute that the home goal was broken through by Mohd Bun Yamin via a quickly taken corner by the Selangor players.

The home fans were furious as a minute earlier Sabah was denied a penalty by referee Samsudin Ibrahim.

The goal lifted the visitors spirit and they became more involved in the match but missed several chances to increase their lead.

The second half started evenly for both teams and although Sabah and Selangor had chances to score, poor finishing let them down.

The introduction of Zainizam Marjan in the second half also failed to ignite any spark for the home team.

Sabah defenders were caught napping in the 67th minute and Amri Yahyah sent a powerful strike into the Sabah net giving custodian Syed Adney Syed Hussein no chance.

The score line remained unchanged until the whistle blew.

Selangor likely would have increased their lead if their strikers were more lethal in front of the goal line.

Top of the table clash

Kota Kinabalu: A crucial encounter awaits Sabah at the Sultan Mohamad Ke-IV Stadium as they prepare to take on second-position Kelantan in their President's Cup Group A encounter in Kota Bharu, today.

A similar test against former second place holders KL Sime Darby earlier in the season saw Sabah tested to the limits.

And if that defeat is anything to go by then Justin Ganai's boys will know to expect a tough match against the current number two team today.

Sabah is six points clear of Kelantan. But with the latter having a game in hand, Justin will want his charges to at least be able to steal a point if not take all three with a victory.

A truly crucial match it will be for both teams as the outcome could potentially decide which direction they head to in the end.

For Sabah, the match presents a good chance to extend their lead to move one step closer to qualification, while for Kelantan, this will be a good chance as any to try and reduce the gap between them.

Victory for the hosts could later see Sabah being overthrown from the top spot so Justin and his boys must tread carefully to avoid any disappointments.

But as records show, Sabah will enter the fight with sharper edge to show for their blade, as they won the previous encounter 3-0 in the first round here. Md Rozaimi Abd Rahman scored two goals and Rosyamrin Wasli netted the other.

Justin, however, will ask for more from his boys than to just go by the previous victory as their yardstick.

"Yes we beat them 3-0 in the first round but that was early in the season.

I'm sure Kelantan has improved now. They are second in the standings and we cannot ignore that fact because that shows they are a good side.

"We must be cautious, especially considering the fact that they are playing at home," said the Sabah coach when contacted yesterday.

On the tactical aspect of things, not much was revealed by Justin, apart from saying that the team must try to keep possession.

He said the team made things hard for themselves during their previous game with too many long passes.

"The long balls is not really our greatest strength and the boys played too many of that in our last game, which ended up making things difficult for us," said Justin.

Yet despite their trials, Sabah still managed to emerge triumphant, fighting back from a goal down before eventually claiming the 2-1 victory over Selangor, here.

Justin does however have a few concerns. The team's tendency to start poorly is one of them.

Nonetheless, the man from Kiulu still wages his confidence on the ability of his boys to deliver when victory is needed most.

Confidence returns to Sabah camp

Kota Kinabalu: Captain, Reithauddin Awang Embran wants to keep the ball rolling and lead Sabah to a second consecutive victory when they clash against Perlis at the Likas Stadium here, tonight.

The statueous leader wants to capitalise on his teammates' renewed confidence to inspire and lead them to another Super League home win.

Sabah's previous game against Perak injected some spirit in all the players and hopefully the confidence it provides will translate into another fruitful outing tonight.

"The victory provided some much needed confidence for everyone on the team. What we want to do now is keep things going.

"We want to celebrate another victory and we will go all out against Perlis tomorrow to capture all three points," said Reithauddin.

The lanky charismatic defender said the team has done well in the previous two games and that all the players have begun to yearn for success.

Sabah won four points from their last two fixtures.

They drew 1-1 against hosts KL Felda United FC earlier last week, before beating Perak 2-1 at home on Saturday.

"All the players played their hearts out on Saturday just like they did against Felda. I hope they can all maintain playing the way they did, if they do then we can win," added Reithauddin.

He said maintaining their rhythm is crucial and that all players must be focused on the task at hand, which is to defeat Perlis.

"Our mission is to hail another victory and our match against Perlis tomorrow is the best opportunity for us to show our fans that we can do it," said Raithauddin.

He told reporters this via short messaging system here, yesterday.

Meanwhile, victory from tonight's game will be crucial for the team, more so for their team manager and coach Gary Phillips.

And going against the only team below them in the standings will surely have the local fans expecting nothing less than victory.

But the Sabah boss has been under pressure recently for failing to win games.

Despite having done an excellent job to lead Sabah back to the M-League's top tier, the challenges that Gary and his charges face in the Super League is a whole new ball game. Sadly, his achievements last year has not been well reflected in the team's progress thus far this season.

The Super League is a much beefier competition and Gary has struggled in keeping up with the other promoted team, KL Felda United FC, who are riding comfortably in the top half of the table.

But blame cannot be placed on Gary alone to shoulder.

Sabah's poor performance in this League is due largely to factors beyond his control.

Injury struggles, which began early in the season, have been a big part of the troubles Gary is facing.

Luck too has not been so kind on the team.

He hopes to change that tonight by leading the team to victory.

This would surely set the mood for all Sabah supporters to expect more positive results from coming matches.

With little cover available around the park, some might say that Gary has done well recently in getting the team back on track.

For the record, Sabah is still lingering near the bottom of the 14-team standings.

They are currently in 13th spot on 9 points from two wins and three draws.