Posted at 03:49h in THE VOICE OF CITY BOYS
Match Preview Super League Vs Kedah
A tough task awaits the City Boys this week as we travel up north to face Kedah DA, looking for our first win of the season, after narrowly coming close in the 3-3 season opening draw at home against Selangor.
Kedah DA began on a positive note, picking up maximum points in a 1-0 win at Sarawak U, through a goal by Cameroonian forward Wanja Ronald Ngah. The league runner-up for the past two seasons made wholesale changes to their foreign legion, bringing in defenders South Korean Jang Suk Won who arrived from Melaka U and the highly experienced Andorran international Marc Vales Gonzalez. In midfield Ivorian Marcel Dechi N’Guessan comes in from Terengganu, while upfront Wanja, who began paying his dues with the winner last week together with Thai Dennis Buschening from UiTM, will be looked at to fill the gap left by the 43 goals partnership over two seasons, of Kpah Sherman and Tchetche Kipre, both departing to Terengganu. Locally they have strengthened by welcoming back national forward Syafiq Ahmad who returns on a season long loan from Johor DT, and defenders Amirul Azhan Aznan (from Perak) and Rodney Celvin Akwensivie (signed from Selangor), as head coach Aidil Sharin Sahak tries to finally land that title that has eluded them since he was given the responsibility in 2019. The Singaporean led Kedah DA to a 4th place finish in his debut year, before finishing twice behind the Johor DT in the shortened season of 2020 and 2021. In between, they also bagged the FA Cup and were bridesmaid’s yet again to Johor DT in the 2019 Malaysia Cup. They had a busy pre-season, involved in at least 11 friendlies including tours to the Klang Valley and Kota Kinabalu, where they emerged as Sabah Maju Jaya Cup inaugural champs.
The City Boys showed we had plenty of character coming back twice then to take the lead against Selangor, in a match where there was little to suggest impartiality by the referee. We scored three goals in open play, all coming from the engine room, so there are plenty of positives to take into this unenviable task. Head coach Bojan considered the circumstances following Gallifuoco’s sending-off before making a concession that a win was what we deserved. He is aware of the fact tour defence has not been working well lately and has been putting the boys through their paces to fix this. He is not too worried yet as our boys remain in high spirits and confidence like he saw last year, and our harmony in the changing room, if not the same, then surely better. This match against Kedah DA is the second of Top 5 opponents that the City Boys are set to face, in a run of the first three opening league fixtures. Following this away trip, next up in the league is at home to Johor DT in April.
Wednesday’s occasion will be the 23rd meeting between the two sides since the beginning of the Super League & Premier League divisions in 2004. The Canaries have held the bulk of victories with 13 matches, while we have only managed to win 4, with 5 draws. Darul Aman Stadium is a difficult place for us, we last won here in 2008, when Stanley, our Chief Executive Officer scored the only goal of the game. Since 2012, we have lost in all 7 visits to Alor Setar, but we almost turned the tables last year, leading 2-1 into injury time, we conceded twice in the final 3 minutes for Kedah DA to stun us. Our last meeting with them was a 2-1 win at home, avenging that earlier loss.
Apart from the suspended Gallfuoco’, the City Boys will once again be missing Romel, Nik Shahrul and Izreen through injury.
The Super League Match Day 2 fixture between Kedah DA and Kuala Lumpur City is on Wednesday, March 9, 2022, at 9PM (2100hrs), in Darul Aman Stadium, Alor Setar, Kedah.
Tickets for the Super League match against Kedah DA is available at the following link, https://www.tickethotline.com.
For Season Ticket Holders (B2 City Boys), enjoy direct access for purchase through the Club without the hassle of the online system (Contact Shamim for details).