LEADERS Police remained unbeaten with a 4-0 win over bottom-placed Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP FC) at the Petaling Jaya Stadium, Kelana Jaya to keep their place at the top of the table.
It was Police’s sixth win in as many matches, but coach Dollah Salleh is not blowing the trumpet with the big win over the all-local side from Penang. Instead the former Pahang coach is bracing for the “real battles” in the next three matches.
Police next face an experienced Felda United, followed by a home match against Negri Sembilan (March 21) and Kedah in Alor Star (March 28) before completing their first round fixtures against KL SPA (home, April 4).
“Felda, Negri and Kedah will play a part on how we fare in the league. The three teams are all title contenders and have the players with experience,” Dollah told Sports247.my.
The former international was not jumping for joy with his team’s overall performance against the water boys.
“We only woke up in the second half. The team can do far better although we did beat JDT 2 and Penang by comfortable scores (3-1 and 5-1 respectively),” he said.
Against PBAPP FC, Police led 1-0 at halftime with national striker Bobby Gonzales finding the net. After the break Police stretched their lead to 2-0 with an own goal by PBAPP FC stopper Saiful Mohamad who tucked the ball into his own net in a desperate attempt to clear.
Munir Amran made it 3-0 before Police wrapped up the scoring with the fourth goal by Ashfaq Ali. The Maldives national skipper took his league tally to six goals.
PBAPP FC coach Yunus Alif said: “We are not able to sustain when it comes to experience. This has been the main drawback in our matches. We have done fairly well to earn points against teams like Kedah, Negri and Felda.
“Hopefully, we will get better in the remaining matches.”
The management has set a top five finish for PBAPP FC in their Premier League debut this season.
Meanwhile, in other matches, Kedah thrashed KL SPA 4-1 at the Hang Jebat Stadium in Malacca, DRB Hicom edged UiTM FC 2-1 in Shah Alam while Perlis drew 1-1 with Sabah at home.