circuit 8: match-day 1 reaction

Selangor made it 14 wins in a row and set a new MPFL points record with their win over JDT, it means they have an unassailable lead at the top going into the play-offs, here are the thoughts of their coach Edgar Baldasso

I think it's one point: the counter-attack, how you control the transition. They had some opportunities in the first five, six minutes, and you understand this, right? But the game is how you solve the problems during the 40 minutes, and I think we did this job very nicely.

We enjoyed some opportunities, we lost many opportunities, but it was a big game. I'm really proud of these guys, and now he's prepared for the future, because he's the one who really decides the tournament.

Normally, I speak to the guys that have... the game has moments. Moments we play better, and moments we play not in the better quality, the opponent is better. I think the most important is survive. When you are not playing good, how you survive? Doing a good defence, compacting, doing the recovery. This is important. And when you are playing well and in better condition, just enjoy the moment. So it seems simple, but sometimes it's very difficult to transfer this concept to the court. But I think today was this, right? So we are becoming mature, like a team.

It's one work that a long time we tried to see this happening. Don't change many things, but the development is very clear.

KL City made sure of a play-off place and strengthened their grip on 4th place with a hard fought win over ATM, coach Jerry Dinesh was disappointed with some of the officiating.

My comment is the same from the last few weeks. Again, the referee today is very, very poor. We will collect the details. Sometimes when the game is close and small decision, they feel like they made a mistake.

In my life, there has never been a situation where the referee apologises to us because of a wrong decision. And this is unacceptable.

But overall, I give credit to the ATM team, because they are not without a fight. They are good at competing, giving pressure. With the addition of referee pressure, the game can be like this. But overall, I am very, very happy with my boys. Because in games like this, when we are playing against more than five players on the court, we have to show a lot of good team spirit, a lot of good attitude. And today we responded to this very well. And of course, the game is 50-50 in the end. I think both teams played well. But I think we deserve these three points today.