Steve Kean in cheerful mood after the close victory. Image taken by Halim Zul Hakim.

Written by Phoon Jia Hui of S•League: Brunei DPMM left it late to beat Albirex Niigata (S) as they emerged narrow 4-3 winners over the Japanese outfit in the first leg of the RHB Singapore Cup quarter-final at Jurong East Stadium on Sunday evening.

DPMM coach Steve Kean felt that it was a deserved victory for his side and hailed match-winner Roy O’Donovan.

“I think there were good chances from Albirex but we stuck at it and Wardun’s [Yussof] made a few saves and obviously the woodwork came to the play a few times,” he said after the match.

“Even though we were physically dead, we still tried to keep the shape of the team and even at a time when we don’t play particularly well, the last 60 mins of the game and we still managed to win and that’s a good sign.

“When you have a player like Roy O’Donovan in the side, he can pop up and get a goal late on in the game like he’s showed today as he showed a bit of maturity and class at the end to find the target.”

However, it was a tale of two halves according to the former Blackburn Rovers manager who paid due credit to their opponents.
“Credit to Albirex, I felt they kept going,” he said.

“Like I said before the game, they are a technically good side and they play lots of good football. They came back but we showed the character.

“You’ve seen a total contrast in how the two halves were played, even the last 10 minutes of the first-half I thought it was all-Albirex and I thought they were better in the second-half.

“It’s only half-time, far from finished,” the 46-year-old concluded.

Albirex coach Tatsuyuki Okuyama on the other hand, admitted they put a poor defensive showing and stated that this was an area they had to work on.

“For the first 15 minutes, DPMM were very good offensively and defensively we just could not cope,” said the Japanese.
“We allowed them to attack from the first half and we could not push up the defense line and gave them too much space in midfield that’s why we conceded three goals in 15 minutes.

“Of course im not happy with today’s result, but throughout the season we need to improve on our defence. As for offence, we need to score when we can and we have got strikers who can do that.”

DPMM FC line up last night. Image taken by Halim Zul Hakim.

Boris playing his defensive role. Image taken by Halim Zul Hakim.

Good to see Gamble in the score sheet. Image taken by Halim Zul Hakim.

DPMM FC’s bench. Image taken by Halim Zul Hakim.

The celebration from DPMM FC players. Image taken by Halim Zul Hakim.

 

Another lucky draw for DPMM FC fans tomorrow

All eyes on Steve Kean as he caught everyone by surprise, leading DPMM FC to the summit and steamrolling past opponents, scoring 30 goals in just 11 games so far this season. Former Blackburn Rovers manager attributed the success of DPMM FC not just on the players but he was also truly grateful towards His Royal High the Crown Prince cum Chairman of DPMM FC and also DPMM FC’s management.

“Credit has to go way back to the management, the club and of course, the Crown Prince and the amazing foreign imports that have come in and obviously that I’ve given a lot of control and the players that I want to keep. But the organization behind in getting Rodrigo here and Boris and obviously I know Joe (Gamble) and Roy (O’Donovan), but credit has to go to management even from last season as soon as the last game was finished,” said Steve Kean.

Kean shared how the pre-season has made them a stronger team as well and the training schemes have been consistent from day one. The players have a good base fitness which can prove vital over the season and try to reduce the number of injuries over the course of the season.

“We have gotten stronger physically. Roberto was tackled badly in the last game but because his legs are so strong and we have done all the work (from the gym). The training sessions have been getting better and you can see the tempo and the intensity of the training have changed and the standard is really high and credit has to go to all the players as well.”

Kean is now very focus on the next four games (Albirex, Warriors, Home, Tampines) and he is aware that even though there is a gap, these next four games are massive. In between, DPMM FC will also have to talk on Global FC in the RHB Singapore Cup.

DPMM FC will take on Albirex Niigata FC tomorrow at the Hassanal Bolkiah Stadium and should they win, it will set a new benchmark of a 10 point gap at the summit. I have seen how Albirex fared against DPMM FC in the first game of the season and the Japanese club is pretty solid with great pace. They could have scored plenty of goals if it wasn’t for the heroics of Azman in goal. DPMM FC won the match through a Tosi penalty and I’m pretty sure Albirex will want some redemption for that defeat.

I can’t wait for the RT (Roy-Tosi) connection once more and they have 21 goals between team with Tosi leading the scoring charts with 11 goals. It’s also no surprise to why Shahrazen Said has been benched since the first game but it’s a healthy competition nonetheless and this shows the depth that DPMM FC squad has.

So peeps, mark your dates tomorrow and let’s wish for another win and another clean sheet.

I’ve never such a huge smile from Steve Kean. Taken from yesterday’s training.

All players are back to full fitness though Boris Raspudic will sit out of the game through suspension

The tempo of the training has been tremendous. So much improvement from the start of the season.

Can Wardun hold for another clean sheet? DPMM FC have only conceded 5 goals in 11 games. Great defensive record indeed