Birthday gift for Crown Prince

Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Monday, February 20, 2012

DPMM FC beat SAF FC to collect 1st win in S-League

DPMM FC yesterday delivered a belated birthday present to His Royal Highness Prince Hj Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister's Office.

DPMM FC picked up their first win in over two years with a 2-1 victory over SAF (Singapore Armed Forces) FC in the Singapore League (S-League) last night at the Choa Chu Kang Stadium in Singapore.

The win came two days after HRH's 38th birthday. The Crown Prince is the chairman of DPMM FC.

The victory also extends the unbeaten streak by DPMM FC against the Singapore giants to six games five wins and one draw.

DPMM FC started brightly when striker Osman Basiru opened the scoring after connecting on a corner kick from the right side in the 17th minute.

This is the second consecutive match that the Ghanaian forward has put his name on the scoresheet.

The match was evenly contested with both teams creating various chances.

But, SAF FC had to wait until the 68th minute to find a breakthrough. Midfielder Tatsuro Inui equallised after leaving DPMM FC goalkeeper Wardun Yussof with no chance scoring with a free-kick from 20 metres out.

The game was heading for a draw until striker Shahrazen Md Said worked his magic.

The Bruneian dribbled past two defenders in the box and beat goalkeeper Hassan Sunny in the 80th minute to seal the win.

DPMM FC head coach Vjeran Simunic was delighted with the result revealing that there was additional motivation to grab those three points.

"We promised the Crown Prince that we will win the match for him," said Simunic during a phone interview with The Brunei Times after the win last night.

"It was important for us to repeat our performance just like against Tampines (Rovers last Sunday), but I thought we did a little better tonight (Sunday night)," added the coach.

"We are happy to get points away from home and have four points from two games. We played a good game and beat an excellent team," continued the Croatian.

What was more impressive was the fact that DPMM FC contested the match without six key players against a team that found the back of the net 74 times last season.

"We fielded eight attacking players and only two defenders. It is good so far that we can still play despite missing six defenders who are not match fit," said Simunic.

"I do hope that we can be a complete team soon and get to the level that we once were," he added.

Last night's victory puts DPMM FC in fourth with four points. SAF FC, meanwhile, are second from bottom, still without any points after losing both their matches.

DPMM FC will have a break before their next match which will be held on March 11 against current table toppers Albirex Niigata at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium in Berakas.

"We have a break in between and we might meet a team who will go into the match still unbeaten," said Simunic.

"We need to beat them. We will prepare right away and keep the good form that we are in at the moment," he added.

In the other match last night, Woodlands won their second straight with a 3-1 triumph over Geylang United at the Woodlands Stadium.

Hussein Akil opened the scoring for Woodlands in the 59th minute and Goh Swee Swee doubled their advantage in the 70th minute.

Danial Razali would pull one back for Geylang in the 83rd minute but Moon Soon Ho put the game to bed with a goal for Woodlands in the 88th minute.The Brunei Times