Sabah gave their all against neighbors Sarawak, but their everything proved futile as the visiting side overpowered their Borneo rivals 2-1 to remain invincible in the Malaysia Premier League.
The rivalry between both sides translated into the ultimate game as both teams went on the offensive from the start with Sarawak eager to end the season unbeaten, and Sabah wanting to take just that away from the Crocs.
Sarawak came close in the first few minutes to put themselves at the lead, but Muamer Salibasic blew his chances with a soft shoot on goal.
Sabah retaliated through offensive moves led by Koh Traore, but Saiful Amar was good for the task at hand.
Another dangerous move by Koh Traore minutes later was also canceled out by defenders Ronny Harun and Mafry Ballang whom performed their task without much effort.
As the game progressed, the Crocs started pinning the Sabahan side to their own half with Muamer and Bobby Gonzales running riots at the Sabahan backline.
The Crocs finally got the goal they were looking for when Muamer managed to put the ball into the net, defeating Sabah’s Sharil Shaari.
Sabah however didn’t need to wait long to level the score with Fazlidin Khalid equalizing for the home side with a powerful strike.
Sarawak moved their artillery forward even more from then on, and hitman Bobby made their efforts count at the final minutes of the half when he scored his 21st goal of the season to put the Crocs back ahead again.
After the breather, the Hawks were forced to camp deeper in their half with Sarawak mustering countless amounts of raids in search of their third goal.
A penalty in favor of the Crocs almost changed the score board, but the shot by Bobby was saved by Sharil to keep the score still too close to call.
Zamri got himself more involved into the attacking fray as he managed to cross a ball to awaiting Bobby who missed the target by a whisker.
This was followed by Mazwandy Zakeria’s perfect corner to Muamer, but the later headed it wide.
Sabah tried to fight back, but the game just went back to Sabah’s end seconds later with Guy Bwele taking his chance to score a goal.
Realizing that Sarawak was too strong, the Sabahan side defended in numbers, hence denying numerous dangerous efforts from Muamer, Bobby and Azizan Baba.
The Hawks finally had a great sigh of relieve after the referee of the game blew the final whistle, signalling Sarawak’s reign at the Premier League came with an undefeated record.
