Old rivalries renewed. Sabah will be hosting the first competitive Borneo derby since the two sides parted company when Sabah earned promotion to the MSL back in 2010. While Sarawak had a good season in 2011, finishing second in the Premier League, Sabah closed their league campaign in 10th position barely reaching the Malaysia Cup but a good run saw them bow out at the quarterfinals stage. Sarawak crashed out in the group stages. The teams may have spent a year apart but became reacquainted last month after playing two friendlies in Kuching. Sarawak came off the better with a 1-0 win and a 0-0 draw with Sabah coach, Justin Ganai proclaiming Sarawak “looks more ready and prepared as a team compared to Sabah”.
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Sarawak go into the game on a high after a good showing last Tuesday against Kuala Lumpur. Sarawak did have to work themselves into the game with early exchanges going to KL but eventually took the initiative in the second half and looked more potent with the introduction of K Ravindran and ran out winning the game. Sabah had a bad away day, losing with a similar scoreline of 2-0 to Felda United. Australian Brendan Gan and former Sarawak player, Bobby Gonzalez, both had first-half goals rightly ruled out for offside. Sabah will be itching to get their season started and doing it at home against Sarawak tomorrow will be the perfect tonic.
It is still early days for Sarawak and Sabah will definitely be banking on their experience of being in the MSL last year. An enticing game is on the cards. T-Team leads the league after a 3-0 home win against Kedah. Sarawak is at third, possibly the highest they’ll ever be this season and Sabah in thirteenth.
Both teams boast similar honours, winning the FA Cup and the Malaysia League once.
The Astro Malaysia Super League is in it’s 9th year. There are 14 teams participating; the bottom team facing relegation and the last 3 teams going into a relegation play-off. The winner of the league will gain entry into the AFC Cup.
Round 2 Full fixture list
Friday 13/1/2012
Kelantan vs PKNS
Saturday 14/1/2012
Kuala Lumpur vs PBDKT T-Team
Terengganu vs Felda United
Sabah vs Sarawak
Selangor vs Perak
Kedah vs Singapore Lions XII
Johor FC vs Negeri Sembilan
