RHB Singapore Cup: Brunei DPMM FC vs Pelita Jaya(IND) Report [1-0]

RHB Singapore Cup:Sixth time lucky for DPMM Fabius Chen info@sleague.com For the first time in six attempts, Brunei DPMM progressed beyond the preliminary round of the RHB Singapore Cup, courtesy of a narrow 1-0 win over Indonesian side Pelita Jaya at Jalan Besar Stadium on Wednesday. A controversial second-half goal by Algerian forward Abdel Hamid Beguiga was enough to send the Bruneians into the quarter-final stage at the expense of Fandi Ahmad’s side. In the lead-up to the game, Fandi had declared that his side would look to take the game to DPMM and for much of the first-half, they certainly did just that. It took the Young Guns just eight minutes to test Wardun Yussof in the DPMM goal but Firman Utina’s left-foot strike was easily dealt with. They looked the more settled of the two sides, dominating the early play and causing the Bruneian defenders all sorts of problems. Three times in the first 20 minutes, DPMM defender Rene Komar had to get his body in the way of shots and crosses that could have resulted in some early damage. Meanwhile, Vjeran Simunic’s side was struggling to string a decent series of passes together and limited to shots from range that either flew wide or straight at Young Guns stopper Dian Agus Prasetyo. His defence was being given a hard time by midfielders Firman and Muhammad Ridwan, who linked up well on several occasions before the danger was snuffed out. Fandi had been worried that his players would not be able to adapt to the stadium’s artificial turf in time and there were hints that his concerns were legitimate. Although they were moving the ball around comfortably enough, there were several occasions in the first-half where the Indonesians seemed to indulge in one pass too many, as though no one really wanted to play the final ball. Coach Fandi later pointed to the playing surface as having caused his players some problems over the course of the 90 minutes. “We usually play at a much higher tempo,” he stressed. “Some of our players were still adjusting to the pitch; our wingers are very fast but when they ran, the ball kept going faster and when they wanted to cross the ball, they needed to adjust a bit.” As the half drew to a close, DPMM began to look like a side that is more familiar with the Jalan Besar pitch but by the time referee T. Aravinthan blew for half-time, neither side had carved out a really clear cut chance to break the deadlock. After the break, Pelita continued to dominate possession, patiently passing the ball around and waiting for an opportunity to present itself. Their opponents, however, proved to be equally adept at being patient, giving the Indonesian side time and space until they entered the final third of the pitch. An enthralling battle was breaking out between DPMM’s Komar and Young Guns skipper Cristiano Lopes, with the Croatian defender showing the Brazilian exactly why the Brunei side has earned the label of being a physical side. Even after being shown a yellow card for a robust challenge on Lopes, Komar continued his rough treatment of the forward, prompting Fandi to suggest that further action could and should have been taken. He commented: “I thought Komar should have gotten a red card, after committing so many fouls.” It was another challenge that went unpunished, this time Sairol Sahari bringing down Ridwan near the half-way line, which almost brought DPMM the breakthrough in the 68th minute. Sairol raced up the other end and laid the ball off for Azwan Saleh but his curling effort stuck the Pelita crossbar and back into play. The Young Guns had their first real scare of the game and they failed to heed it, as just eight minutes later, Berguiga popped up with the game-winning goal. There was a strong suspicion of hand-ball when Berguiga raced clear and muscled Ardan Aras out of his way before rounding an onrushing Dian and rolling the ball into an empty net. Pelita’s players protested vehemently but their pleas fell on deaf ears and the Bruneians were a goal to the good. It was a blow that Fandi’s side never really looked like recovering from, as DPMM locked the back door and threw away the key. With just six minutes left, the Young Guns nearly snatched an equaliser with substitute Jusmadi’s sweetly-struck free-kick was touched onto his own bar by Wardun at full-stretch. By then, however, the Indonesians had run out of ideas and even with three minutes added at the end of the 90 minutes, were unable to conjure up an equaliser. After the game, Fandi was certain that Berguiga’s matchwinner should have been ruled out. “It was a clear hand-ball. Everybody saw it so I don’t know how the referee and assistant missed it,” he said. “But we can only blame ourselves because we had two or three good chances in the first-half and I think we dominated the game very well.” There had been much hype surrounding Fandi’s return to the local football scene in this competition, although his side’s participation proved to be short-lived in the end. A disappointed Fandi stated: “It’s nice to be back but it’s very disappointing that we’re not in the next round.” For his counterpart Simunic, however, it was a result to savour. “It’s a big victory because we’ve waited for six years for it,” he emphasised. “Pelita Jaya is a very good team. They caused us problems in the first half but we were better, especially in the last half hour, when we had more possession of the ball and created a few chances. “We came here to do our best, to not lose and we have succeeded.” After soaking up pressure for much of the game, Simunic was keen to highlight that it is the final score that matters. “In a cup competition, only victory is important so we are happy,” he pointed out. Which leaves the most important question of all: did he think Berguiga was guilty of controlling the ball with his arm? Without so much as missing a beat, Simunic dismissed the thought before turning the allegation on his opponents. “No, not possible. There were many hand-balls but they were all at the other end.”