PETALING JAYA: Police have come up with some convincing displays against giants of the Super League, but need to arrest their decline against the minnows.
The Cops produced a shock result in the Super League when they scored a last-minute leveller to hold Selangor 1-1 at the Selayang Stadium in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.
Selangor drew first blood in the tie when Cape Verdean winger Alvin Fortes’ header beat Police goalkeeper Bryan See in the 16th minute.
Police’s Nigerian winger Aremu Timothy scored the equaliser in the 92nd minute when his curled shot fooled Selangor’s defence and debutant goalkeeper Kalamullah Al-Hafiz.
What made the draw even sweeter was the fact that Police had to play with 10 men in the last minutes after defender Aliff Najmi Shaaini had to be stretchered off with a knee injury and coach P. Maniam had used all of his five substitutes.
It was not the only shock result against a big side this season as the side coached by Maniam have beaten Sabah (1-0), Kuala Lumpur (2-1) and Perak (3-2) and held Johor Darul Ta’zim (1-1) and Terengganu (1-2).
But they have also lost to minnows like Kuching City (0-2) and Kelantan (0-1) and even got a heavy drubbing in the hands of Pahang (1-5).
Maniam said that is something that they need to rectify if they want to further improve their standings in the league, now fifth in the league with 16 points.
“Sometimes with players, it is difficult to predict when it comes to consistency. When taking on the bigger teams, they are motivated but against weaker teams, they give 70% to 80%,” said the former Selangor and Petaling Jaya City coach.
“I want the boys to treat every game like it is a final. From now on, we will not be playing easy matches. We will be taking on Kedah in Alor Setar on Oct 25 and then Perak in Ipoh on Nov 2.
“We are now in this position because of gradual improvement and that must continue. As a coach, I know the weaknesses we have, so we will work hard to rectify them.”
As for the game against his ex-club, Maniam said his side were planning to end the first-half 0-0, but always found themselves conceding early and having to fight for a result.
“Before every game, we always go in with the motivation of not conceding but against Selangor, we conceded quite early, as early as the 16th minute. My plan was to end the first-half 0-0, but it did not happen.
“During half-time, I told them the mistakes we made and what we should not do in the second half. We also made some changes to our line-up.
“We lost one player to injury in the last 10 minutes, and we had used up all our substitutes.
“But I respect the way we fought and got the equaliser. The players showed good character and attitude. They did not give up.”
