Junior Rhinos in quarters

Junior Rhinos in quarters

KOTA KINABALU: The Junior Rhinos have accomplished their pre-season target of making it into the quarter-finals in the 2018 President’s Cup campaign.

The state U-21 side are one of the two teams in Group A that have booked their berth in the last eight with four matches to spare. The other team are Kedah.

Junior Rhinos are the current leaders in the group with 37 points from 12 wins, one draw and three defeats, while second-placed Kedah are on 35 points from 10 wins, five draws and one defeat.

Losing their remaining matches will still see both teams conclude the group stage in fourth place at the very least. There is no way fifth, sixth and seventh-placed Melaka, Selangor and Pahang respectively could pip both Junior Rhinos and Kedah, even if they (Junior Rhinos and Kedah) lose all their remaining matches.

This leaves the remaining two quarter-final slots from the group to be fought between five teams, namely Johor Darul Ta’zim III (JDT III), Kelantan, Melaka, Selangor and Pahang.

JDT III and Kelantan are holding the upper hand over their challengers.

Third-placed JDT III are on 31 points and they need another four points from their remaining matches to clinch their ticket.

Kelantan are on 29 points, while Melaka, Selangor and Pahang, who have played a game more than the top four teams are on 25 and 24 points respectively.

Junior Rhinos’ head coach Johnny Dominicus when contacted congratulated his boys for a job well done. However, he was quick to point out that their quest for glory is far from over.

“It has been quite a while that we have not made it into the knockout stage. So, the feeling is great to have made it through.

“But now, we must set ourselves a new target, and that is to try to get past the semi-finals. But from now on, we will take one game at a time.

“Our immediate task will be to try and end our group stage on a high, which means, we want to stay where we are now,” said Johnny, who guided Sabah to their first ever gold medal at the Malaysia Games in Pahang 2012. He attributes their good run to all parties, from players, coaching staff and team management.

“This is possible because we showed great teamwork among all parties. The players also played their part. They have been working hard to improve themselves individually or as a team. We must continue with this good attitude,” he added.

“I hope that the players will not get carried away with this achievement and that they continue to work hard and give their best in our remaining four matches,” said Johnny.

For the record, the President’s Cup is taking a two-month break, and would only resume in early July. As for the Junior Rhinos, Johnny said, they are currently taking a one-week break and would resume their daily training on May 21.

Sumber: New Sabah Times