KUCHING: Kuching City FC have suffered a 3-2 defeat away to DPMM FC, but head coach Aidil Sharin Sahak believes the Malaysia FA Cup round-of-16 tie remains very much in the balance ahead of the return leg.
In last night’s (Aug 16) clash at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, the Cats showed resilience with goals from Ronald Ngah and James Okwuosa, but DPMM ultimately came out on top in front of their home crowd.
Despite the setback, Aidil stressed the importance of taking positives from the performance and looking ahead to the second leg in Kuching.
“Obviously when mistakes happen, we have to learn from them. Even though we scored, we still had opportunities that we didn’t take. But this is football — anything can happen,” he told reporters after the match.
“3-2 is not over for us. We still have our home game to play and with our supporters behind us, we will give everything.
“I am always positive with our home crowd and definitely we are looking forward to the second leg,” he added.
Aidil acknowledged the strength of DPMM, who were boosted by the return of striker Shafiq Ahmad from injury, but believes his side will be better prepared for the challenge ahead.
“They only had one point from two games before this, and we knew it would be tough because this was their first home game.
“With their fans and families behind them, of course they wanted to show improvement. They are a good team and with Shafiq back, they will only get stronger in the coming matches,” he said.
The Cats will now turn their focus to a league clash against Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) at home on Aug 24 at 8.15 pm.
“Playing against JDT, one of the strongest teams in the league, we have to stay positive, recover and plan how to approach the game. Since it’s at home, we will try to collect points there,” Aidil said.
Kuching City will then host the second leg of the FA Cup tie on Sept 14, with hopes of overturning the deficit and securing a place in the quarter-finals.
