After months of waiting (and a loan stint at Newcastle Jets all the way in Australia), Indonesia’s very own Syahrian Abimanyu finally made his JDT debut in Monday night’s Liga Super Malaysia action. Coming off the bench in the 75th minute to replace Safiq Rahim, Syahrian helped JDT to a 2-0 win over Sabah FC, head coached by countryman Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto and featuring Saddil Ramdani in their starting lineup.
With a Bergson brace in the first half already placing JDT in a very good position for all three points at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium, the Southern Tigers’ head coach Benjamin Mora sent Syahrian on in place of club legend Safiq to ensure that JDT would retain their lead all the way into full-time.
Despite his short cameo, Syahrian showed flashes of brilliance on the Sultan Ibrahim pitch, creating two key passes as JDT tried their best to not only retain their lead, but to add more to their advantage. However, no further goals were scored and the Southern Tigers managed to keep their 2-goal advantage at the end of the game.
Mora voiced some praise for Syahrian’s brief cameo after the match and as quoted from Football5star, “Syahrian had struggled a lot in reaching match fitness but his efforts have been worth it. He performed well tonight and he even seamlessly slots himself into the JDT style of play.”
The win ensured that JDT remain top of the Liga Super with 14 wins from 18 games, while Sabah are in 7th.
Hariss Harun’s decision to leave JDT in order return to Singapore to be with his family during the COVID-19 pandemic turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Syahrian, who saw his chances of breaking into the squad increasing exponentially. His place in the JDT first team was alternated between himself and Australian defender Shane Lowry, a practice common amongst teams within the Liga Super who has a reserve team in the second-tier Liga Premier Malaysia.