Sabah to focus on Malaysia Cup next

Sabah coach Justin Ganai is being modest after successfully helping Sabah to stay in the Malaysian Super League next season.

Despite losing 2-1 to Kelantan in their last game of the season on Wednesday, the Sabah head coach is still quietly happy to see his side end their 2011 challenge in 10th placing on 28 points from seven wins, seven draws and 12 defeats.

Under Justin, who replaced Australian Gary Phillips in early May, the team recorded five wins, one draw and four defeats in 10 games he was in charge. The squad scored 13 goals and conceded 11.
They defeated Negeri Sembilan (home/2-0), Pahang (home/2-0), Felda United (home/2-1), Perlis (away/1-0) and Kuala Lumpur (home/3-0).
They drew one-all away to Perak and lost to Harimau Muda twice (2-0), T-Team (home/1-2) and Kelantan.
While under Gary’s reign, the team registered two victories, five draws and succumbed to eight defeats scoring 11 goals and conceding 21 in 16 matches.

When met after the Kelantan tie, Justin said he was happy to see the team remain in the top flight action next season.
“I would like to thank the players for fighting for the team and now we are still in the MSL as well as having qualified for the Malaysia Cup, which I’m looking forward to,” he said.

He said that the team are taking a short break and would report back for training on July 21 in preparations for the Malaysia Cup challenge, where he is hoping the team will do well.

On the defeat to Kelantan, Justin said they paid the price for conceding two soft goals that allowed Kelantan to walk home with all the points.
“We knew it was going to be tough, but I think we made it difficult for them. Unfortunately we conceded two easy goals, or else things could have been different.
“The first, we defended poorly and the second, it was one silly mistake that we made, which shouldn’t be committed at this level of the tournament,” said Justin.

For the Malaysia Cup, Justin pointed out that he is going to call several players from the Reserve League squad, including Md Rozaimi Abdul Rahman, who received his first national call-up yesterday.
He was among the 11 players called by national Olympics coach Ong Kim Swee for selection trials and will be part of the team for the friendly against Chelsea on July 21.

For the record, Kelantan emerged as the winners of the MSL 2011 challenge, clinching the crown for the first time.
Pahang and Perlis were demoted after finishing in the bottom two in the 14-team standings.