The long three weeks break had a negative effect on the Crocs as they fell short of extending their winning streak by falling 3-2 to Sime Darby in a game which saw the visiting Sarawak leading 2-0 at one point.
Sarawak went on the offensive from the start of the
whistle and they didn’t have to wait long for their first goal with S
Chanturu’s seventh minute shot deflecting right into the goal to beat
goalkeeper Mohd Redzuan Harun who was helpless.
The Crocs pushed harder to distance themselves from
the home side, but their eagerness to score saw Gabor Gyepes substituted out of
the game due to an injury. Muamer Salibasic’s entry saw a shift in Sarawak’s
tactical mode, with the Crocs continuing their assault towards the tidy Sime
Darby’s defences.
In the 21st minute, the Crocs finally managed to
extend their lead with Hassan Mohammad assisting Ryan Griffith in the penalty
box for the later to calmly push in Sarawak’s second goal of the game.
The goal was the turning point of the game as
Sarawak soon lost possession superiority with Sime Darby winning and
intercepting numerous passes made by Sarawak in the midfield, and arranging
several dangerous counter attacks towards the Crocs back-line, which eventually
revealed its brittleness.
Barely eight minutes after Ryan’s goal, Sime
Darby’s Dilshod Sharofetdinov punished a defensive lapse by Sarawak to give the
Giant Killers hope of obtaining something out of the game they were currently
losing.
Sarawak continued to defend dangerously despite the
single goal advantage and saw themselves pegged by the home side when unmarked
Dilshod was allowed to drive in a superb strike which stunned Fadley Rahim.
After the breather, Sime Darby continued to run the
game by winning possession from the Crocs as the Crocs’ saw their game plan
rattled by a very disciplined side.
Sharol Saperi however had an opportunity to put his
side back in front, but his thunderous shot on goal was pushed out by
goalkeeper Redzuan Harun with an acrobatic save.
Moroccan Hassan Mohamad also had a chance to score,
but his powerful shot on goal was straight to Redzuan with Chanturu finishing
an exchange between him and Hassan with a wide shot.
Sarawak’s best chance came through Hassan when he
found himself with the ball in the penalty box. However, Hassan’s powerful shot
hit a defender, and the loose ball was picked up by Sime Darby for a fruitless
counter attack.
More counter attacks by Sime Darby came really
close to giving the home side the edge, but luck was still with the Crocs as
they held the score until the 82nd minute.
In the 83rd minute however, the massive Sarawak
crowd at Stadium Selayang went silent when unmarked Syukur Saidin pounced a
loose ball, before driving it beyond the reach of Fadzley to put the Giant
Killers a goal up with less than seven minutes to play.
The Crocs tried to equalize with whatever arsenal
they had, but even the inclusion of Akmal Rizal failed to change their fortunes
with Sime Darby players beaming at the final whistle with the full three
points.
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