PETALING JAYA: Sabah coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee (pic, above) is not one to mince words when his team perform poorly.
Kim Swee was scathing in his assessment after the Rhinos’ winless streak in the Super League extended to three matches, following a 0-1 loss to Police at the Selayang Stadium in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.
The Borneo side last secured a league win on Aug 9, when they defeated Pahang 3-2 at the Temerloh Stadium.
Since then, they have lost 1-2 to Selangor and were held to a 1-1 draw by Terengganu. Both matches were played at the Likas Stadium in Kota Kinabalu.
The defeat had riled up Kim Swee and he did not hold back.
“If they consider themselves stars and don’t secure points from these fixtures, what’s the point? I’ve told my players not to underestimate any team in the competition. Any team can defeat us on any given day if we are lackadaisical,” said the former national coach.
“What we’ve done in the past no longer matters. If we don’t realise this, we’re in for a tough season.
Flying high: Hadi Fayyadh Abdul Razak of Police (in black) going for a shot while Sabah’s Farhan Roslan tries to stop him. - Bernama
“Police showed great determination and effort to earn the three points. After they scored, they defended well. We had chances, but they were able to thwart them.
“Was luck on their side? Perhaps. But maybe they wanted the three points more than us.
“We have only ourselves to blame. We created chances but weren’t strong enough to convert them. We cannot be proud of our performance.
“We failed to maintain our winning momentum, and we must recognise that teams are coming up with better game plans. We need to bounce back if we want to get our season back on track.”
As for Police, they have their striking duo – Nigerian Ifedayo Olusegun and new signing Hadi Fayyadh Abdul Razak – to thank for the win, as the pair combined to score the match’s only goal.
The breakthrough came in the 80th minute when substitute Hadi delivered a through pass to Olusegun, who then beat two defenders before unleashing a powerful left-footed shot from inside the penalty box, beating Sabah goalkeeper Damien Lim.
The victory was significant as Police rebounded from a 5-1 drubbing from Pahang in the league last week.
“We came back stronger after that heavy defeat last weekend. The boys did well, and our aim was to fight till the end and secure three points. Our goal was to get back to winning ways, and we achieved that,” said Hadi.
“It’s good to be playing in the Super League again and to help Dayo (Olusegun) with an assist.”
