No room for costly mistakes, says coach

KUCHING: Kuching City FC head coach Aidil Sharin Sahak knows his side must cut out costly mistakes after their 2-2 draw with Tampines Rovers FC in their ASEAN Club Championship Shopee Cup Group A opener at Stadium Taha Ariffin.

Aidil felt Kuching City had done enough to take all three points, but admitted lapses in concentration and mistakes gave Tampines opportunities they could not afford to allow at this level.

“I think we are a better team, and we don’t deserve to lose this game.

“We had a few chances and also have to give credit to their goalkeeper and defence who did well to stop us,” he said during the post-match press conference.

Aidil

However, Aidil said the draw had exposed areas Kuching City must address before their ACL2 outing against Kitchee SC on Oct 15.

“We can see the weakness of what we had today, the concentration and also, of course, mistakes that we made in the game that we can learn something from.

“When you play Shopee Cup, it’s always a high-intensity game. You can’t afford to make one silly mistake, they will punish you because these are all the top teams and quality players in the team,” he added.

Aidil was nevertheless pleased with the way his players continued fighting, particularly after falling behind, with Gabriel Peres scoring twice to earn Kuching City a point.

“I appreciate the players. They didn’t stop. They worked so hard and the winning attitude is always there,” he said.

With Kitchee SC next on the agenda, Aidil said Kuching City would take the lessons from the draw and work to ensure the same mistakes are not repeated.

“Definitely today, it teaches us something and definitely we will learn something from the game,” he said.