KUALA LUMPUR: Dollah Salleh was desperate. His Pahang team were trailing Melaka by two goals and nothing was working.
He turned to the reserve bench at Hang Jebat Stadium yesterday, and told David Rowley and Shahrul Nizam Nadzir to take to the field.
It was a masterstroke. Rowley and Shahrul scored in the 87th and 90th minutes respectively to save the day for Pahang.
It was a 2-2 draw that saw Pahang extend unbeaten run to four games.
Dollah admitted he was stunned by the late heroic show from the two super subs. Rowley came in for Abdul Malik Mat Ariff in the 57th minute while Shahrul substituted Azam Azih in the 81st minute.
Melaka had earlier taken a 2-0 lead through Ifedayo Omosuyi (38th minute) and Adriano Narcizo (51st).
Dollah said the Elephants had looked lifeless for much of the match but were only able to make a comeback in the last four minutes.
Since Dollah took over from Frenchman Christophe Gamel as the interim coach in late July, Pahang has risen to fifth in the Super League, behind Johor Darul Ta'zim, Sabah, Negri Sembilan and Terengganu.
Melaka coach Asri Ninggal was disappointed to see three points slipping away from his side in the closing minutes.
"We only have ourselves to blame. We played well but due to complacency, we conceded two late goals.
"We conceded easy goals. This is something we must look into before our next game against Terengganu."
The Mousedeer are seventh in the table with 17 points from 14 games.