Sarawak failed to capitalize on their home advantage after they were held to a bore draw last night at Stadium Negeri.
The Crocs accelerated the game play as soon as the first whistle, but ATM stood firm with with their defenses clearing away efforts made by Ryan Griffith and Billy Mehmet.
In the 9th minute, Ryan had a chance to score from a free kick, but his shot on goal was straight to the goalkeeper Razi Affendi. A subsequent cross by Ryan whom was looking for Billy Mehmet also went fruitless as the ball was easily cleared out of play before Billy could control it.
In the 34th minute, Joseph Kalang made his presence felt when he dribbled the ball past two defenders, but his shot on goal was pushed out for a fruitless corner.
After the breather, Sarawak came closer to breaking the dead lock with debut player G Mahathevan’s header cleared off just before it crossed the goal line.
This was followed by a poor effort by Partiban whom blasted a wonderful chance on goal, high and wide.
In the 62nd minute, the Crocs’s effort finally paid off when Ryan Griffith calmly headed in a wonder free kick to put his side in front of ATM.
However, the joy of the goal was short lived as Mazwandy Zakeria’s a poor tackle in the box gave referee Shamsudin Ibrahim no option but to signal a penalty kick for ATM. ATM’s import Jerry Palacios took the spot kick, and calmly slotted in the ball to put both teams pegged again.
Sarawak pushed harder for the winning goal but their best chance from Ashri Chuchu failed to hit the target.
Numerous other efforts from the Crocs also failed to break the defences of ATM, with the referee finally calling the game over with neither side able to go b=home with the full three points.
