Sarawak FA didn’t hold back when they demolished visiting Perak FA 6-1 at Stadium Negeri last night.
The game was watched by a capacity crowd with thousands left disappointed as tickets were sold out an hour before the game started, and bumper to bumper traffic was detected at most roads leading to the stadium hours before kick-off time.
But everything was worth it as the Crocs went on a rampage campaign the minute the referee blew the first whistle of the game.
The home crowd did not have to wait long as a signature long throw by Ronny Harun was not cleared well by the Perak back line, resulting in a header by Junior Eldstal to come off Khairi Kiman for Sarawak to be leading in the all important game.
Barely six minutes later, Sabahan born Bobby Gonzales put the crowd in frenzy after he calmly beat his marker, picked up a through ball and pushed in a beautiful grounder into the back of the net, beating Jibrail Kamaron Baharin with ease.
Perak pulled one back through Yong Kuong Yong in the 23rd minute, but that was the only goal for the visiting side as the Crocs tighten their defense, with the midfield moving extra hard to supply quality passes to their strikers.
Despite that, Perak kept coming in search for the equalizer with Sani Anuar having to be at his best on three occasions.
Sarawak came back into the game in the last five minutes and Muamer Salibasic gave the home crowd more reason to cheer when he snatched a free ball off Perak goalkeeper Jibrail, before calmly slotting in the third goal for the Crocs.
The second half restarted with Ashri Chuchu coming in for Bobby Gonzales.
But it Ronny who did wonders again as his lengthy throw in was quickly flicked by Junior towards awaiting Zamri Morshidi who made no mistake to powered in Sarawak’s fourth goal of the night via his diving header.
Two minutes later, Muamer punished a mistake by Perak defenders when Guy Bwele’s pass landed neatly on his feet, only to have him power home a shot well pass Jibrail, and into the net.
Despite the 5-1 lead, the Crocs maintained their attacking momentum with Perak top marksman Paolo Rangel neatly marked by Ronny.
As the cheers for Sarawak grew louder, Muamer scored his well deserved hatrick by rounding of goalkeeper Jibrail, and taking his time to shoot in a goal form an acute angle.
At 6-1, the Crocs continued their attacking flair up to the last few minutes and the celebration mood erupted when the referee blew the final whistle to mark Sarawak’s resounding victory over Perak to not only revenge their 2-1 defeat in Perak, but also to knock out the Seladangs out of the Malaysia Cup, and confirm their spot in the final eight of the competition.
//Photo from UltraCrocs
