KUCHING: Sarawak United FC (SUFC) did not make their chances count as they slumped to a 0-1 defeat at home against Kelantan FC despite dominating most part of the game on Wednesday night.
The only goal of the game came late in the 82nd minute when Kelantan’s Japanese midfielder Kenta Hara capitalised from a loose ball that came off the crossbar to nod in the ball into the back of the empty net with SUFC’s goalkeeper TauffiqAr Rasyid beaten by the initial effort.
SUFC players hit the ground running right from the very start of the game and the first opportunity came as soon as the second minute when SUFC’s Scottish-born towering defender Stuart Wark loose his marker to head the ball slightly above the crossbar from a corner deliciously swung in by captain AshriChuchu from the right.
Another golden chance came in the 33rd minute when Boris Kok’s header from a set piece was well saved by Kelantan’s goalkeeper Nik Mohd Amin Ahmad with Uche Agba’s rebound effort blocked by the defenders in the six-yard box.
SUFC players do not seem to have the lady luck on their side again in the 39th minute when a corner from the left fell right on the six-yard box with Boris Kok’s effort saved by Nik Mohd Amin Ahmad and the loose ball was cleared off the line by Kelantan FC’s defenders.
SUFC players continued their momentum in the second half with SUFC’s defender Raja Imran Shah’s header cleared off the line again in the 52nd minute when Nik Mohd Amin Ahmad misjudged and fumbled the cross from AshriChuchu.
Kelantan’s defenders came into the rescue again in the 70th minute when Uche Agba’s header was cleared off the line after a good cross was swung in from the right from Chanthuru Suppiah.
After going 1-0 down in the 82nd minute, Sarawak United players kept on bombarding forward in search of an equaliser.
Another golden opportunity came in the 88th minute, perhaps the best chance of the night yet, when Mohammad Zharmien Ashraf Ismail, who came on as a substitute in 62nd minute, latched onto the cross swung in by Chanthuru from the left but his shot unfortunately came off the crossbar.
SUFC’s final chance of the night to get back into the game came in the stoppage time at 92nd minute but they were denied by Nik Mohd Amin Ahmad who pulled off a magnificent save from Uche Agba’s long range shot from the outside of the box.
With that defeat, a challenging task awaits S.Balachandran’s men next week on October 31 in the second leg of the tie as they need to overturn the deficit away from home at the Sultan Muhammad IV Stadium in Kota Bharu to secure a slot in the quarter finals of the Malaysia Cup 2022.
