SAFFC 0
Brunei DPMM 2 (Tales Dos Santos 9’, Adi Said 79’)
Brunei DPMM booked their place in the Starhub League Cup Final after a 2-0 win over ten-men SAFFC at the Jalan Besar Stadium last night.
From the first corner of the game for DPMM after just nine minutes, they took the lead. It was Azwan Saleh who swung it in as Tales Dos Santos rose the highest in the six yard box to power home a header which came off the underside of the bar.
SAFFC’s Fazrul Nawaz had a decent chance to equalise for the Warriors in the 15th minute but could only send his shot bobbling wide of Wardun Yussof’s goal. Patrick Da Silva’s effort from 25 yards out minutes later then saw Shahril Jantan – who was slightly off his line – backtracking to palm it over for a corner.
DPMM then had a chance on the other end in the 35th minute as Ivan Jerkovic curled his just wide from the edge of the area. Shahril was tested again two minutes later as he had to be alert to tip Basiru Osman’s dipping shot from almost 35 yards out, over for a corner.
However two minutes later, Fazrul who had missed an early chance in the game saw his header from Aliff Shafaein’s left-wing cross come off the post before Tatsuro Inui’s left-footed attempt from the rebound was pushed over the bar by Wardun. The returning Mislav Karoglan had an opportunity to equalise just before the break but Wardun was again equal to it and deflected it out for a corner at his near post.
After the break, the Wasps continued to threaten and carved out decent openings. Lively forward Basiru Osman had to be replaced in the 52nd minute when he fell on the ground motionless after he went for an aerial ball with Daniel Bennett. He was replaced with Helmi Zambin soon after and it was understood after the game that Osman was suffering from a concussion.
Substitute Helmi almost made an instant impact after coming on, finding himself with acres of space in front of him in the penalty area. However, he elected to go for the shot instead of squaring the ball for Patrick Da Silva who was free and fired a tame shot which Shahril comfortably gathered.
Da Silva was involved in the next move on 61 minutes as he raced clear down the right before cutting the ball back for Azwan Saleh who miscued a shot horribly wide on the edge of the six-yard box.
SAFFC who were struggling to really create clear chances throughout had a chance in the 73rd minute. It was Shimpei Sakurada and substitute Ruzaini Zainal both involved in that move, playing a quick one-two on the right but the latter blazed a disappointing shot over the bar.
It was game over for Richard Bok’s side ten minutes from time as Adi Said struck to make it 2-0. It was a perfectly-timed run from the 22-year-old who managed to break the offside trap before slotting it past a helpless Shahril Jantan, who seemed convinced that it was an offside when the ball was played behind the defence.
Frustration eventually got the better of SAFFC and it saw the dismissal of substitute Ruzaini Zainal after he kicked out at Subhi Abdilah from the back in stoppage time.
“I don’t think we went wrong”
“I don’t think we went wrong but it was DPMM who did everything right today,” conceded SAFFC’s Richard Bok after the game.
“I thought DPMM came out very aggressively and did not allow us to play (our normal game). They pressed us really well. We were not aggressive enough in the first half. But in the second half, we put in more effort and create more chances but just could not find our way past a stubborn DPMM defence.”
Despite the defeat, Bok gave credit to his players for not giving up throughout.
“We put them under pressure (tonight) and had good chances but the goal just did not come… But we didn’t give up and credit has to be given to the team for not giving up.”
“We were tactically disciplined”
On the other hand, Brunei DPMM's Vjeran Simunic said: "We were tactically disciplined today and our fitness was top, top, top."
“I told my boys today not to make the same mistakes we made in our last time against SAFFC and they did.”
Losing Basiru Osman could have an impact on how his team would play, admitted Simunic.
“I hope he will be okay. He just collapsed and (that’s because) he didn’t eat and drink as he was fasting. We have a big, big problem with Basiru (Osman) as he’s an important player for us. But that gives us a new kind of motivation and that gives other players like Helmi (Zambin) a chance to step up.”
The Croat concluded: “We are very happy to have reached the final and we just have to see who our opponents are. Be it Tampines or Geylang, we are sufficiently prepared.”
SAFFC: Shahril Jantan; Noh Rahman, Marin Vidosevic, Daniel Bennett (C), Eddie Chang (Razaleigh Khalik 46’); Tatsuro Inui, Shimpei Sakurada, Shukor Zailan, Aliff Shafaein; Fazrul Nawaz (Ruzaini Zainal 66’), Mislav Karoglan
Unused subs: Rezal Hassan, Erwan Gunawan, Hafsyar Farkhan, Matthew Abraham, Prakash Manikam
Brunei DPMM: Wardun Yussof; Sairol Sahari, Tales Dos Santos, Shahrulrizal Abd Rahman, Subhi Abdilah; Rosmin Kamis (C), Ivan Jerkovic, Azwan Saleh; Patrick Da Silva (Adi Said 75’), Shahrazen Said (Suhaime Yussof 90+3’), Basiru Osman (Helmi Zambin 52’)
Unused subs: Fakhrul Zulhazmi, Hanafizal Helman, Najib Tarif, Awangku Fakharazzi
Yellow card(s): Fazrul Nawaz, Daniel Bennett (SAFFC); Sairol Sahari, Shahrazen Said (DPMM)
Red card(s): Ruzaini Zainal (SAFFC)
Attendance: 338
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