17/4: Pahang continued their insipid performance, beaten 1-4 at home by Perlis. Sarawak FA's chief fainted after Sarawak lost their lead and subsequently the match against Kedah, who scored 2 goals in the space of 2 minutes 10 minutes from time.
1/5: Negri Sembilan is threatening to run away with the league title after yet another blistering performance, this time at Kota Bharu, thrashing the home team 4-0, even without 3 key players.
14/5: League leaders Negri Sembilan crashed to their second defeat, 0-1 at Johor Bahru.
22/5: FA Cup quarterfinals, we followed up the humiliating 0-3 defeat at Kangar with another miserable performance, losing 1-4 to Selangor. We're out by a 2-4 margin. Better buck up now boys!
October: we are league champions for the first time ever!
November: we are in the semis for the second year running. 3 more matches before we get the biggest prize of all: the Malaysia Cup.
28th December: keep your head up Burhan Ajui!
Sabah Premier League Team 1996
KHAIRUL AZMAN MOHAMED, 28
VESELIN KOVACEVIC, 29
JAININ TININ
BURHAN AJUI, 23
GAPOR MOHAMAD, 23
Ramlan Silamat
JEKERISON KILAN, 26; back after a 1-season stint with NS
BOBBY CHUA KIM LUN,28
ONG KIM SWEE
YAP WAI LOON
Andrew Laban, 26
SCOTT OLLERENSHAW, 28
HARUN LABAN, 28
MOHD JAYA KASSIM, 20
Richard Ribu, 22
Herman Limus
ABDULLAH AWANG ADI, 31
SUHARMIN YUSUF, 23
Omar Maya Amat
Johnny Dominicus
Kamaruddin Soleman
JELIUS ATING, 23
DUNIAN SULOG
Coach: Ronald Smith
Assistant: Justin Ganai
Manager: Anifah Aman
1996 season match results
| League position |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Pts |
| 1 |
28 |
17 |
7 |
4 |
49 |
21 |
58 |
23/3: 0-0 Perak (H); Kim Swee sent off in 65th. Drab performance by Sabah who were the aggressors at first. Shot at goal 4, Perak 6.
26/3: 3-0 Kelantan (A); Abdullah Awang Hadi, Jaya Kassim. At last a convincing win. Put the ghost of Kelly Tham to rest.
30/3: 1-0 Brunei (H); Jaya Kassim scored from a 71st minute penalty. Overall match was a yawn.
6/4: 0-1 KL "City Boys" (A); without Olle who was injured.
13/4: 3-2 Johor "Scorpions" (H); Gapor, Suharmin, Bobby Chua; a see saw match which saw leads changing hands a few times, with 4 goals before halftime. Then came Bobby's beautiful goal 4 minutes from time.
16/4: 0-1 Negri Sembilan (A); Negri surprised me with their cohesive display this season and are destroying everyone in their path. We didn't play badly but with Scott shackled tightly and Negri in menacing form, I suppose this result is inevitable.
20/4:1-0 Sarawak "Crocs" (H); Jaya Kassim (60th)
2/5: 1-1 Melaka (A);Suharmin (37th), Melaka equalised in the 42nd
4/5: 1-0 Pahang (H); Olly finally broke the duck with a header in the 51st
11/5: 0-0 Terengganu "Turtles" (A); our finishing was not up to mark
14/5: 2-0 Penang (H); Olly (2); the scoring machine's engine has warmed up - beware!
18/5: 0-3 Perlis (A); a disgraceful performance led to our worst defeat of the season. Perlis weren't even playing with any imports. Better buck up guys.
25/5: 5-1 Selangor (H); revenge match, after losing 1-4 in the FA Cup quarters a few days ago.
2/6: 1-0 Kedah (A); they were without a few key players, should've scored more goals. Poor finishing again. Scott (42nd) again saved the day. Imagine what would happen if we were without him. Die lah!
13/7: 2-0 Perak (A); great win in difficult conditions. Perak og, Harun Laban's 1st touch sealed it.
17/7: 5-1 Kelantan (H); Scott's 4 goals puts him top of the goalscorers' chart
?: 0-0 Johor (A)
?: 1-0 Sarawak (H)
2-2 ?
1-0 Sarawak (A); we were lucky
4-1 Melaka (H)
1-1 Pahang (A); Ong Kim Swee (penalty)
1/10: 8-1 Terengganu (H); Is this season going to be better than 1979? Scott's hattrick puts him on 17
I forgot to fill these in; was too busy
Second last match: 3-0 NS (H): we pummelled them
Last match: 0-4 Kedah (H): after the heroics, boos from the crowd
Malaysia Cup round
0-2 Selangor (H); oo-er, the boos are getting louder and Ron doesn't like it
1-0 Perlis (H); Scott (80th)
beat Perak (H)
drew Selangor (A)
drew Perlis (A)
drew Penang (A)
1-0 Perak (A); Scott 79th
3-1 Penang (H); Scott (2)
We finished 2nd in Group A after Selangor
Semifinals
14/11: 2-0 Sarawak (A); Ollerenshaw (12th), Jaya Kassim (19th). A brilliant counter-attacking
performance. We went to Kuching aiming for a draw or at least to keep the scoreline down against
high-riding Sarawak, undisputed champions of group B. However, they crumbled under pressure in front
of their own fans. Even the usually cool David Evans executed a rare miskick to enable Ollerenshaw
to score the first goal. Click here for The Star's newsclip.
1-1 Sarawak (H); The Crocs came back fighting but we stood firm.
Final
28/12: 4-5 Selangor (pen shootout) (A). 0-0 after extra time. Wai Loon was subdued in midfield, and I never saw
Veselin more under pressure. Our triple pronged attack (Ollerenshaw, Suharmin, Jaya) was shackled fiercely. The woodwork
saved us twice. Khairul was man of the match. And when Jelius fouled Azman Adnan in the box I thought it was all over.
It was simply not our night. Selangor simply outclassed us. They had 10 shots on goal compared to our 4. Especially Shahrin Majid
and Mustaca Cristian was in top form. Click here for The Star's newsclip.
1994 season match results
Sorry I don't have all the results
5-1 Brunei (H)
2-0 Sarawak (A)
4-1 KL
5-1 Kedah (H) (Euphoria)
5-3 Sarawak (H) (More Euphoria!)
0-2 Kelantan (A)
1-2 Perak (H) (doubts started creeping in...)
3-4 Terengganu (A)
2-2 Melaka (H) (more doubts)
3-0 Pahang (A)
4-2 Selangor (H) (this is what puzzles Sabah fans - beat giants, lose to minnows; how come???)
0-7 Singapore (A) (2/8/94 which sparked a bribery investigation)
4-2 ?
3-1 ?
2-4 Perlis (A)
1-2 Johor (H)
2-2 KL (A)
Played 30, Won 15, Drew 5, Lost 10, Goals for 72 (highest in league), Goals against 58 (also one of the highest in league!), League Position 6th
Singapore were the league champs, followed by Kedah, Sarawak, Terengganu and Pahang.
Malaysia Cup final '94: Singapore 4-0 Pahang
Scott Ollerenshaw scored 24 goals, Matlan Marjan 14
The Premier League's top scorer was Hashim Mustapha (27 goals)
On paper, Sabah's 1994 team was very impressive. Just look at this 1st XI roster:
Khairul Azman Mohamed; former national goalie
Veselin Kovacevic
Gerald Mojiliu; national player
Jainin Tinin
G. Raveychandran
Charles Tindi
Milomir Seslija
Ong Kim Swee; national player
Yap Wai Loon; national player
Matlan Marjan; national player
Scott Ollerenshaw
But we all know what happened next...
1995 season match results
Sabah - FA Cup 1995 champions
Group matches: finished 2nd behind Terengganu with 1-1-1 record
QF: 6-4 Perlis (aggregate)
SF: 2-1 (H), 2-0 (A) Selangor (Agg: 4-1)
F: 3-1 Pahang; Matlan, Milomir, Ollerenshaw. A day of public holiday (9/4/95) was declared, players got 200K and a trip to China, and Scott proposed to Michelle. Sigh...
Sorry I don't have all the results
29/4: 2-1 Johor (A) Milomir, Matlan
2/5: 3-1 Selangor (H) Milomir, Ollerenshaw (2)
6/5: 1-1 Melaka (A) Ollerenshaw(pen); trailed 0-1 at halftime
13/5: 5-0 NS (H) Wai Loon, Milomir, Gerald, Kim Swee, [og]; YESSS!
16/5: 4-1 Perak (A) Milomir, Ollerenshaw (3)
20/5: 3-1 Pahang (H) Kim Swee, Milomir, Ollerenshaw; YESSS!
?/5: 1-2 Sarawak (A) Chua;
?/5: 3-0 Terengganu (H) Matlan, Ollerenshaw, Raveychandran
30/5: 2-3 Perlis (A) Milomir (2)
3/6: 2-3 Penang (H) Ollerenshaw (2) (I can smell something fishy AGAIN starting here...); Penang were still reeling after the defeat to Kedah 0-8 at this stage
6/6: 1-2 Kedah (A) Tindi; trailed 0-2 at halftime
10/6: 3-2 Brunei (H) Ollerenshaw (2), Matlan
13/6: 2-3 KL (A) Ollerenshaw, Matlan
After this I was so fed-up I quit recording the results
Malaysia Cup round
?: 3-0 Perak (H) Ollerenshaw, Milomir, Kim Swee
?: 0-1 Kedah (A) 1st defeat in 8 matches
26/9: 3-1 Johor (H)
3/10: 2-1 Selangor (A) Harun, Dunian
14/10: 1-0 Perak (A) Ollerenshaw, in the 77th minute!
17/10: 1-0 Kedah (H) Ollerenshaw, in the 89th minute!
21/10: 1-2 Johor (A) Johor scored in the 81st and 84th minutes!
25/10: 2-1 Selangor (H) fine record against Selangor continues...
Malaysia Cup semifinals
2/11: 0-1 Pahang (H) Ollerenshaw missed a penalty in the 86th minute!
4/11: 1-0 Pahang (A) Ollerenshaw, in the 78th minute! Then, lost 2-4 in the penalty shootouts. Ollerenshaw (again!) and Wai Loon were unsuccessful with their kick, while Jainin and Kovacevic rocketed theirs in. Still, this season was Sabah's most successful ever.
Played 28, Won 13, Drew 5, Lost 10, Scored 60 (highest in league), Let in ??, 5th in league
Scott Ollerenshaw scored 22 goals in league, Harun Laban 10
Previous years' results
From what I remember...
1983: 15-5-6-4; finished 9th, hence missed a place in the cup final rounds
1984: 15-6-6-3; finished 6th, made the final rounds but bowed out early
1979 - that golden year
With 3 first choice national players in their side: Peter Rajah (goalkeeper), Hassan Sani and James Wong (Malaysia's twin strikers), Sabah ran rings around the other teams' defences. Sabah started slowly in the league after 8 matches, with 3 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses but then suddenly they stepped up a gear or five by winning ALL their remaining 8 matches, most of them by huge margins, including that incredible 8-0 thrashing of Sarawak and 6-1 beating of a Peninsular team. In the end, Sabah finished 2nd in the league with 49 goals for and 15 against. That's an average of 3 goals per game! Singapore who finished top with 12 wins, 3 draws and a loss didn't even manage to have a better goal difference. Sadly, Sabah's performance in the later rounds were not up to scratch. Anyway, that was the highest placing Sabah ever got in the league.
