Motrok said he had expected Hilal Alquds to make life difficult for his side.

"I had expected this match to be difficult, and it needed a lot of concentration from my players, Hilal Aquds are a good team, and they play with high spirit, and they fought hard, especially after the result of first match, as they had a chance to qualify

"My players were under pressure, but in the second half we showed that we have high spirit, and played as a team to come back and we were close to scoring the winning goal in the final minutes," said Motrok.

Planning for the derby against Al Riffa would begin after a a short break, said Motrok.

"We will have some rest now, then we will start preparing for the next season, and the final stages of the AFC Cup. We can't predict anything in football, and I am happy that my team have qualified, and also to have two teams from Bahrain in the semi-finals."

Hilal Alquds ended their campaign with two points but head coach Ammar Salman only had glowing words for his side.
 
"I would to give credit to the players who entered this match with great determination and concentration, and continued to fight until the final whistle."

"We gave our best and kept fighting until the end, and we represented Palestine football in the best possible way, and I am happy with what we produced, and proud of all players.

"Our performance didn't drop in the second half, as we continued to attack and fight, and we had several chances to score.

"This competition was a great experience for me at the personal level, and it motivates me to come back and get better results," said Salman.