Aidil’s men answer their critics

2 days ago 33

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KUCHING: Kuching City FC proved their doubters wrong by powering into the FA Cup semi-finals with a commanding 4-1 victory over Kelantan City FC in the quarter-final second leg at Stadium Taha Ariffin last night (Oct 10).

Head coach Aidil Sharin Sahak credited his players’ hard work, desire and discipline for the convincing win, which saw The Cats advance after the first-leg encounter in Kota Bharu on September 20 ended in a goalless draw.

“I think credit is always due to the players. They worked hard, and they knew it was a must-win game, and we did it with a good 90 minutes,” he said after the match last night.

Aidil said his team had targeted an early goal and applied pressure in the first half, with Yuki Tanigawa opening the scoring through a header in the 10th minute before Ajdin Mujagic doubled the lead eight minutes later.

However, The Cats conceded just before the break when Muhamad Hadin Azman struck from long range in the 44th minute, prompting Aidil to highlight the need for greater defensive discipline.

“This is where we have to improve. We spoke about it at half-time, that there shouldn’t be any free shots coming from our own half,” he said.

Aidil was pleased with his players’ response after the break, particularly those who had not featured regularly, including Nazmi Faiz, Kaishu Yamazaki, Declan Lambert, who had recently returned from injury, and Arif Farhan.

The Cats strengthened their advantage in the 67th minute when Mujagic found space outside the penalty area and fired home before completing his hat-trick in the 80th minute to seal the 4-1 victory.

Aidil also praised the impact of his substitutions, with Petrus Shitembi and Ramadhan Saifullah among those introduced as he sought to give key players valuable playing time ahead of the team’s next fixtures.

The coach was also asked about potentially controversial decisions surrounding some of the goals but maintained that the team respected the match officials’ decisions.

“This is football. It happens, but we always respect the referee’s decision. They are the best men on the pitch to know what the best decision is,” he said.

Aidil added that the result was particularly satisfying after doubts had been raised over Kuching City’s ability to score enough goals to settle the tie.

“Everybody spoke before the game that we couldn’t beat Kelantan in Kelantan, with the 0-0. Today, we proved we can score more than four goals. At the end of the day, I’m very happy. We proved tonight that we deserve to be in the semi-final,” he said.