26 May 2017

RAMPANT PROTECTORS SEE OFF WASPS IN THRILLER

Written by: Darren Ho

Home United are hot on Albirex Niigata (S) heels at the summit of the 2017 Great Eastern-Hyundai S.League after an impressive performance, defeating Brunei DPMM 9-3 at Bishan Stadium on Thursday night.

Faris Ramli was as his stunning best, netting four goals, while assisting three others as teammates Stipe Plazibat, Khairul Nizam, Adam Swandi and Song Uiyoung also got their names on the scoresheet for the hosts.

DPMM had Rafael Ramazotti, Shah Razen Said and Adi Said to reduce the deficit, but it was Home who would ease to a comfortable victory and seal all three points in this encounter.

It has been a crucial, yet congested week for Aidil Sharin’s side who are in their quest to finish top of the S.League, while battling in the AFC Cup Zonal semi-finals in midweek.


Yet, the Bishan-based side, who are one foot in the final, made no mistake in their S.League commitments to push on both fronts.

Both teams kicked-off the first-half with vicious intent to get their noses in front.

The visitors made their first attempt to prise an opening inside four minutes when wide man Azwan Ali flight a dangerous cross from the left to pick up Adi in the box, only to be denied by Hassan Sunny who was right on point when he sprung to intercept with a save.

It had been the worst possible start in Steve Kean’s regime as DPMM coach this season and their woes were compounded when the Protectors scored six within the space of twenty-five minutes before half-time.

Home broke the deadlock after 21 minutes when Shamil Sharif delivered a delightful cross for Faris to take a first touch before elevating his shot past the onrushing Alijanda Sitom to take the lead.

Faris clinched his second nine minutes later, tapping in a low cross from Plazibat who timed his delivery to perfection from the right flank.


The pair would switch roles three minutes later as Faris became provider when he picked up a loose ball in the penalty box to connect with Plazibat who rolled the ball past Alijanda at his far post.

The Protectors’ number nine did score his second just moments later as Faris once again dinked a clever ball from the middle for Plazibat to run in and chip over Alijanda, making it 4-0 in the 36th minute.

But the Singapore International wa not done yet as he produced another assist for Nizam, delaying his run from a Home counter attack, to slot in a pass to his club and International teammate to place the ball into the bottom corner.

Faris did eventually seal his hat-trick on the stroke of half-time as he darted his shot from the 12-yard box for the Protectors to lead by six at the break.

Aidil’s side picked up exactly where they had left off after the restart and went further ahead when Adam blast in a finish from close range after teeing up with Faris’s cross, before DPMM

would cause a few moments of concern when Ramazotti broke through the Home’s defence with a simple finish to get their fightback underway.

On the other end, Song would restore Home’s seven goal cushion as his shot behind the box took a deflection off Ramazotti, finding its way into the net, before Faris rounded the goalkeeper to score his fourth of the night.



Just past the hour mark and both sides would make changes on their own. Steve Kean was desperate to bring in players to score at the front, while Aidil was keen on resting key players for their next AFC cup match in midweek.

DPMM substitute impact Shah Razen would put Kean’s faith in him to good effect as he ghosted into the box to punish Hassan in conceding his second, before his provider Adi slammed his free-kick from 20 yards to seal the final scoreline at 9-3.

Play continued to fluctuate from end to end as Irfan Fandi made a brilliant effort to track back and prevent Ramazotti from his second when the Brizilian chipped past the onrushing Hassan to see his effort clipped off the goal line by the young Singapore defender.

With this result, Home remain in second spot, two points behind Albirex who have a game in hand, while DPMM languish in eighth.

Brunei DPMM Head Coach Steve Kean: “I’m gutted for the players. We’ve worked hard for the past two weeks. We didn’t thought it was that easy scoring against us.


“But we didn’t deserve any point. We were very open and each time the ball went forward, we had our hearts in our mouth because we actually don’t have defenders and we’re struggling in defence.

“Sometime you have to rebuild a team and for the last three years, we’ve won most of our games but we’ve lost a couple of players and had to replace midfielders with defenders.

“It’s unfair to criticise our midfielders who had to draw back as defenders but we need to get in local defenders for help at the back this transfer.”

Home United: Hassan Sunny (GK, C), Irfan Fandi, Afiq Yunos, Juma’at Jantan (Luqman Bin Ismail 59’) , Hariss Harun, Song Uiyoung (Izzdin Shafiq 63’), Shamil Sharif, Adam Swandi, Faris Ramli, Khairul Nizam, Stipe Plazibat (Amiruldin Asraf 77’)

Brunei DPMM: Alijanda Sitom (GK), Zeljko Savic (Reduan Petara 40’), Azwan Saleh, Azwan Ali, Hendra Azam (Nurikhwan Othman 78’), Najib Tarif, Maududi Hilmi Kasmi, Rosmin Kamis (C), Aminuddin Zakwan, Rafael Ramazotti, Adi Said

Hard lessons for Brunei Futsal

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (26 May 2017) – The Brunei Under-20 Futsal team picked up some hard lessons this week in Bangkok when they lost all their matches in the AFC U20 Futsal Championship.
Placed in Group A, the Sultanate scored just eight goals as against conceding 41 to be placed at the bottom of the bracket.
They opened their campaign with a 14-1 loss to Afghanistan before conceding a 6-1 loss to Iraq, 10-0 to Thailand, 4-3 to Bahrain and then 7-3 to Malaysia.
“It was a good exposure,” said Brunei coach Qusmaini Noor Rusli.
“The players suffered a bit of a shock playing in an international environment during the first match.But they gradually gathered momentum and eased into playing casually, with better passes and control of the ball.
“The players dished out their best display during the match against Bahrain.”
http://www.aseanfootball.org/v2/2017/05/hard-lessons-brunei-futsal/

13 May 2017

SPIRITED YOUNG LIONS EARN HARD-FOUGHT POINT

Written by: Phoon Jia Hui
Garena Young Lions notched their first point of the 2017 Great Eastern-Hyundai S.League season after holding Brunei DPMM to a goalless draw at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Saturday night.
It was an end-to-end game with chances aplenty, but the two teams were ultimately let down by their profligacy in front of goal as they shared the spoils in an exciting affair.  
The hosts started the match brightly and could have opened the scoring after seven minutes but Muhaimin Suhaimi nodded narrowly wide off a Ryan Syaffiq cross.


Meanwhile, the Young Lions defence hardly allowed the DPMM attackers a sniff at goal and was marshalled well by the trio of captain Shahrin Saberin, Illyas Lee and Faizal Roslan - the latter two were making their first starts of the season.  
Young Lions goalkeeper Hairul Syirhan was called into action for the first time on 18 minutes as he made an unorthodox save with his legs to keep out Hendra Azam’s fierce shot.
Muhaimin controlled Rusyaidi Salime’s cross with his chest but fired tamely at DPMM custodian Wardun Yussof from six yards out.
After cutting in from the left, Syaffiq’s effort whistled just over the bar just after the half-hour mark before Rosmin Kamis’ cross was nearly deflected into goal by the head of Azwan in the 33rd minute.  

V Selvaraj’s charges should have gone ahead six minutes after the restart when Wardun flapped at Rusyaidi’s right-wing cross. The ball then fell kindly to left-back Syahrul Sazali who blasted over from close range.
Lee came to the rescue of the Young Lions in the 58th minute, as the defender raced back in time to clear off the line with a header after Azwan’s chip had beaten an onrushing Hairul.
Azwan came close again in the 66th minute when he powered a shot on goal which came off the bar after it took a deflection off the fingertips of Hairul.

A glut of goalscoring chances followed thereafter but none were able to find a way into the back of the net.
Young Lions substitute Haiqal Pashia capitalised on a defensive error to drag his shot wide in the 84th minute before an unmarked Azwan skied his effort at the far post off a corner two minutes later.
With just seconds remaining, Taufik Suparno could have become the hero for the Young Lions but the forward contrived to fire wide with only the keeper to beat.        
The result made no difference to the league standings, as the Wasps remain in eighth with four points while the Young Lions are one spot below. 

Brunei DPMM Head Coach Steve Kean: “The good thing for us today was that the result stopped a bad seqence although I’m disappointed we didn’t get the three points.”
“We shaded the game, especially in terms of chances. Azwan Ali had one (which came off the bar), Rosmin Kamis fired over while Rafael Ramazotti had two headers which were unlucky not to have gone in.
“But credit to the Young Lions, they were hard to break down with three centre-backs and two wing-backs who constantly pressed us.”
Garena Young Lions: Hairul Syirhan (GK), Shahrin Saberin (C), Ryan Syaffiq (Haiqal Pashia 83’), Syahrul Sazali (Dhukhilan Jeevamani 74’), Hami Syahin, Faizal Roslan, Ikhsan Fandi (Taufik Suparno 69’), Muhaimin Suhaimi, Rusyaidi Salime, Illyas Lee, Muhelmy Suhaimi
Brunei DPMM: Wardun Yussof (GK), Azwan Saleh, Azwan Ali Rahman, Hendra Azam (Nurikhwan Othman 60’), Billy Mehmet, Najib Tarif, Rosmin Kamis (C), Helmi Zambin, Rafael Ramazotti, Zeljko Savic, Yura Indera Putera  
http://www.sleague.com/match-report/s-league/2017/may/2017-05-13/garena-young-lions/