Training Field Problem - But Alberts Not Laying Blame For Sarawak Loss

KUCHING: Sarawak player s were not even given a proper field to train on the eve of the Johor match but coach Robert Alberts would not accept that as an excuse for his team’s 2-0 defeat to Johor.

For Alber ts, the host team had to honour the ruling - to give a f ield for an opponent team to train - on but in this case it was not honoured.

Sarawak will officially write to the FAM to complain about the matter, said Alberts.

“It was a disappointment for it is impolite for the opponent team as they did not give us a field.

“We did not train for we were given a field that was in deplorable condi t ion and couldn’t be used for training,” said Alberts, who needed a f iel d to prepare the team before each match.

Apart from the field problem, the mai n reason why his players did not play well was that they were too stressed out.

“We t r ied but the player s were so stressed that we can’t staged a comeback after the first half when we were 2-0 down.

“We must relax a little bit more as the defender s who suf fered the ear ly pres sur e were not playing their normal game but just pumping the ball high.

“Al s o we mi s s e d B o b b y (Gonzalez) on suspension as he can hold the ball upfront as Johor side were very alert and put early pressure with their game right from the start.

“However, I’m happy with the commitment of the boys and their will to fight although they were playing against a hardrunning team.

“The results did not reflect the way the game was played,” said Alberts.

For Sarawak should have been 2-goal up by the 20th minute, had not Zamr i Morshidi and Shahizan Sahari missed their chances in the early part of the game.Zamri’s good attempt was foiled by the Johor goalkeeper whi le Shahr izam had a miss with a shot.

Aidiel Mohd had almost nothing to do except the two goals he let in, said Alberts.

With three points lost, Alberts said even though a defeat is a setback, they will continue to fight for every point in ever y match as they vie for the top two places in the group to win promotion to Super League.

For the next match against Har imau Muda, he will have Wong Sai Kong as well as Azizan Saperi back after both were on yellow and red card suspensions but Bobby will still be missed for the clash.