HRH Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah (Front Row C), the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office, in a group photo with the DPMM FC staff and players during the photoshoot session held at Jerudong Mini Stadium yesterday. Image courtesy of Sanusi Hussin of The Brunei Times.

 

The Manager of Hua Ho Manggis, Lau (L) and Advertorial Writer from The Brunei Times Md Azli Azney at the airport yesterday. Image courtesy of Obelina Wang of The Brunei Times

Woohoo, it’ s my first trip to the Philippines *sakai mode on* and thank you to FitFlop Southeast Asia for inviting myself to the Philippines for the FitFlop conference event at Bohol, the Philippines.

I am traveling with Azli Azney, reporter from The Brunei Times for the coverage and we will be joined with the media and magazine representatives from Indonesia and the Philippines.

We will be witnessing FitFlop’s SS15 Regional Launch and it’s very likely that the new line will be available in Brunei in the near future.

The new collections for FitFlop – Indigo, Lustre, Tera Nova and Garigue – will be the main features of the launch. I’m pretty sure my mom will be excited since she’s a huge collector of FitFlop footwear as she shops the collections in Singapore.

I shall be posting more pictures on my social media instagram at @ranoadidas so do follow me there for updates. Thank you Soon Tiong for this opportunity.

 

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His Royal Highness Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office graced the DPMM FC / S League Football Fanfare 2015 at the Jerudong Mini Stadium last Sunday.
His Royal Highness, who is also the Chairman of DPMM FC, joined the junior participants and the new import players for a group picture.

Among those participating was His Royal Highness Prince ‘Abdul Muntaqim, who joined more than 100 junior participants in the technical training session during the DPMM FC / S League Football Fanfare 2015.

HRH Prince ‘Abdul Muntaqim also received a certificate of participation for the completion of the training session, which was conducted by DPMM FC’s head coach Steve Kean.

Also participating in the training session were the grandsons of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, YAM Pengiran Anak ‘Abdul Raqiib bin Pengiran Maharaja Setia Laila Diraja Sahibul Irshad Pengiran Anak Haji Abdul Rahim and YAM Pengiran Anak ‘Abdul Haseeb bin Pengiran Maharaja Setia Laila Diraja Sahibul Irshad Pengiran Anak Haji Abdul Rahim.

His Royal Highness Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office greeting the young players during DPMM FC / S League Football Fanfare 2015 at the Jerudong Mini Stadium. Image courtesy of Khairil Hassan of Borneo Bulletin.

HRH Prince ‘Abdul Muntaqim also received a certificate of participation for the completion of the training session. Image courtesy of @WSRBrunei (White Room Studio)

HRH Prince ‘Abdul Muntaqim in the group photo. Image courtesy of @WSRBrunei (White Room Studio)

YAM Pengiran Anak ‘Abdul Raqiib bin Pengiran Maharaja Setia Laila Diraja Sahibul Irshad Pengiran Anak Haji Abdul Rahim also in attendance. Image courtesy of @WSRBrunei (White Room Studio)

Fresh from completing the foreign quota with the arrival of new imports Craig Fagan, Brian McLean and Rafael Ramazzoti, the club is in its final week of preparation ahead of their first home game this season against Harimau Muda this Sunday, March 1.

The open training session attracted the participation of more than 100 junior footballers the majority of whom were from various schools and clubs that encourage youth development and promotion with the likes of Sports School and International School Brunei (ISB).

Kean revealed that he sees the young participants as potential players in the future adding that it only takes few hours to identify talent.

“We see these children today as potential players for us in the future. It was always nice for them to spend some time with the current players. We had a good response last year and this year was even better,” Kean said. “Certainly, in the few hours, you can identify some players that has potential to be professional players. It doesn’t take long to see the ones that got something special and we’ve seen lots of them today.”

The S League ‘Coach of the Year’ 2014 nominee was fairly impressed with the conduct and attitude shown by the junior players adding that the participants would return after a water break to learn about the other components linked with the technical aspects of the game.

“It was very warm today and the players asked that if they can have a little water break and after 10 minutes again they want to go back out and do something else. They were asking how this warm up, how we should warm down, and what type of stretching you should do. We mentioned a lot of injury prevention and they were asking if we can show them something. We showed that in the end and hopefully they can learn something”.

“It is about participation. If the young players can get enthusiasm and excitement today and wants to play football, it is not just about watching on TV. Hopefully they get what I would call the bug to play and that excitement never leaves you. If they can get a ball and practice at school, practice with a friend at school, after school, when they get a break at the weekends and as much contact with the ball and keep their skill level up, I’m sure they are some of those players who are here today that in the years to come would say that was the first time I decided to be a professional player”.

The objective of the training was to further comprehend the technical elements of the game for instance by controlling the ball not just by the stronger foot but also to work on a weaker foot. You’d never stop learning. Even the senior players like Joe Gamble, Craig Fagan and Bobby our captain, they’re learning and improving everyday”, added the head coach.

Meanwhile, Lim Chin, the Chief Executive Officer of S League commended DPMM FC’s initiative of building a fan base and encouraging active community participation and education through football.
“It is like a family concept and this is where we should build a fan base for each club through the children. The children can get to see up close and personal with the stars and besides just shaking hands and getting autographs, they are playing with the football stars”, Lim said.

“I think it is great to build up a fan and player relationship and DPMM FC did the right thing to hold a football fun fair on a beautiful Sunday morning”.

“I know the training is very short but I think what the children would remember that they learn the art of heading from this Brazilian player or he learnt dribbling from Azwan Ali. So when they see these players in action he remembers the half and hour sessions with them on that particular day. And maybe in time they (the club) can do more of this to engage with the fans”, Lim concluded.

Shortly after a certificate presentation to the participants, a souvenir was presented to the CEO of S League, Lim Chin as a token of appreciation by YAM Pengiran Maharaja Setia Laila Diraja Sahibul Irshad Pengiran Anak Haji Abdul Rahim bin Pengiran Indera Mahkota Pengiran Anak Dr. Kemaluddin Al Haj, the Vice Chairman of DPMM FC. Text courtesy of Fadhil Yunus of Borneo Bulletin.

 

Image courtesy of @haqimie267 (Fazizul Haqimie Photography)

Image courtesy of @haqimie267 (Fazizul Haqimie Photography)

Image courtesy of @haqimie267 (Fazizul Haqimie Photography)

Image courtesy of @haqimie267 (Fazizul Haqimie Photography)

Image courtesy of @haqimie267 (Fazizul Haqimie Photography)

Image courtesy of @haqimie267 (Fazizul Haqimie Photography)

Image courtesy of @haqimie267 (Fazizul Haqimie Photography)

Image courtesy of @haqimie267 (Fazizul Haqimie Photography)

Image courtesy of @haqimie267 (Fazizul Haqimie Photography)

 

This will be another interesting contest. I remember last year I covering the Area Contest of Brunei Toastmasters where Chris Woo, a member of Brunei Speakers’ Club and Brunei Advanced Speakers’ Club, made a name for our local club when he came top 9 in the International Speech Contest amongst 30,000 competitors. It was a huge milestone for Brunei Speakers’ Club. Reaching the world’s finals meant that he had to win in all six contests to reach to the finals – at club level, at Area level (to determine who will the Brunei representative), at Division Level, At District Level, then the semi-finals before they chose the top nine to the finals. So Chris Woo experienced to all those stages last year and it was something he didn’t expect.

Now the contest is back. However, Chris Woo decided not to contest but opted to mentor and guide other members especially for members in the newly chartered toastmaster club, UBD Toastmasters Club.

Tonight there will be an International Speech and Table Topics Contest for members of Brunei Speakers’ Club. The top two of each category will proceed to Area Level to be held at Multipurpose Hall, UBD on 8th of March.

I will be competing in both categories tonight and it’s one of the those nights where I normally get butterflies because I want to improve as a public speaker. I learnt so much from toastmasters as a speaker and as a leader and I am abided by their vision. Toastmasters gave me the perfect platform for my contribution to the community. I wish to all the contestants best of luck and the most important is let’s have fun and support one another. That’s the beauty of the contest.

Last Sunday, we witnessed great quality speakers especially from UBD students during the UBD Toastmasters Club’s International Speech and Tables Topics Contest. I am so used to young adults (generation) from Brunei Speakers’ Club but now because a new club has been chartered, what makes it more interesting and refreshing is that it’s a university club. This would mean young and energetic speakers and they had the most participants among all the clubs in Brunei Darussalam. Simply amazing!!

I applaud the president and founder of UBD Toastmasters Club, Reuben Chin, for his great leadership and aspiring the members to take the initiative to join the contest even though the club is not even a year old. All in all, they had 24 registered entries for both International Speech and Table Topics. Simply amazing!!

So peeps, let’s come support the contestants today for the Brunei Speakers’ Club contest, happening tonight at Seameo Voctech, Gadong and it starts at 7:30pm.

Gary Goh 3rd place, Pranika Lama 1st place and Reuben Chin 2nd place with Allen Ang the prize presenter for the International Speech Contest in the UBD Toastmasters Club Contest at Inspiring Hall, UBD Student Centre last Sunday

Reuben Chin 1st place, Rayhan Ibrahim 3rd place and Julius 2nd place in Table Topics Contest in the UBD Toastmasters Club Contest

Interviewing the contestants from UBD Toastmasters by the contest chair Ching

 

Matahari FC emerged as champions of the Standard Chartered Trophy 2015 Brunei local tournament and moved a step closer towards realising the dream of going to Anfield, the home ground of Liverpool FC in the United Kingdom.

Matahari will proceed to the regional tournament in Kuala Lumpur as a Brunei representative where only representatives from Malaysia and Thailand now stand in their path to qualification to Anfield, one of the most popular and historic stadiums in the world.

The winners ended Syah Kampong’s brave resistance with a 2-0 win in the final at the Indoor Stadium last weekend.

The Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Pehin Orang Kaya Pekerma Laila Diraja Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Hazair bin Haji Abdullah presented the champions mock cheque and the individual prizes.

The Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Pehin Orang Kaya Pekerma Laila Diraja Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Hazair bin Haji Abdullah and Rino Donosepoetro, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank Brunei presenting the prize to the winner of the Standard Chartered Trophy 2015, Matahari FC. Image courtesy of Standard Chartered Brunei Facebook Page.

Some of the participants of the Standard Chartered Trophy 2015. Image courtesy of Standard Chartered Brunei Facebook Page.

The Matahari’s pair of Iswandi bin Wahid and Md Zainul Hazmin bin Md Saifuddin collected the Most Assists and Top Scorer prizes respectively. Iswandi walked away with a signed Liverpool Football Club jersey by goalkeeper Brad Jones while Md Zainul received a signed LFC jersey by midfielder Joe Allen.

Mohd Asyramisyanie Kamis of Syah Kampong FC was awarded the Best Goalkeeper.

During the closing ceremony, a mock cheque of BND$2,400 was handed over to the Community Development Department (JAPEM) on behalf of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports for the Humanitarian Fund of the Malaysian Flood Disaster. The funds was raised from registration fees collected from the participating teams, 100 per cent of which were donated.

Earlier, the quarterfinals of the Standard Chartered Trophy Brunei qualifying were contested with all group winners from the preliminary round in contention.

SLHM/Easyway, Syah Kampong, AMBD FC and Matahari FC all qualified to the last four while the quartet of HMD, Royal Origin FT, GG FT and OLSCB were eliminated. Mohd Asyramisyanie saved a penalty in the shoot-out to send his team to the final while Matahari’s solitary goal in the second semi-final was enough to confirm their place.

The Standard Chartered Trophy Brunei 2015 is supported by the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports and endorsed by the National Football Association of Brunei Darussalam. Text courtesy of Fadhil Yunus of Borneo Bulletin.

 

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DPMM FC vice-chairman YAM Pg Maharaja Setia Laila Diraja Sahibul Irshad Pg Anak Haji Abdul Rahim Pg Indera Mahkota Pg Anak (Dr) Kemaludin Al-Haj receiving token of appreciation from DPMM FC Club Manager yesterday.

Let’s forget about last season. It was the closest DPMM FC ever go to winning the S • League title. Close but no cigar. The only highlight to remember was DPMM FC’s League Cup title. This season they can take a step further this season. Their jinx team has always been Tampines Rovers but let’s hope history will not repeat itself.

DPMM FC will take on Harimau Muda on 1st March 2015 at the Hassanal Bolkiah Stadium. After that they will have two away matches Albirex Niigata FC (S) at the Jurong East Stadium on 7th March and Young Lions (Singaporean national Under-23 team) at Jalan Besar Stadium on March 11.

Yesterday was the signing ceremony for DPMM FC’s sponsors and also signing of the DPMM FC squad for 2015 season. Missing from the squad so far that I know of are Shahrazen Said and Subhi Abdillah.

Present during the signing ceremony was the guest of honour DPMM FC vice-chairman YAM Pg Maharaja Setia Laila Diraja Sahibul Irshad Pg Anak Haji Abdul Rahim Pg Indera Mahkota Pg Anak (Dr) Kemaludin Al-Haj. Images courtesy of Khairil Hassan.

Katherine Hii of You•C1000 continuing the sponsorship for DPMM FC

DST becomes recurring sponsor for DPMM FC

Another regular sponsor for DPMM FC, Brunei Shell Marketing

Maju Motors, another sponsor for DPMM FC

Signing with the DPMM FC players

Signing with the DPMM FC players

Guest of honour with the DPMM FC club manager and sponsors of DPMM FC

The registered squad players of DPMM FC

The imports of DPMM FC – Northern Ireland defender Brian McLean, English forward Craig Fagan, Bosnian defender Boris Raspudic, Brazilian striker Rafael Ramazotti and Irish midfielder Joe Gamble.

 

Rino Donosepoetro, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank Brunei and Hj Abdul Malik Hj Mohammad, Director of the Department of Youth and Sports at the opening night of Standard Chartered Bank Trophy 2015

The tournament has begun. It was the first time that Standard Chartered Bank Brunei held a futsal competition known as Standard Chartered Bank Trophy 2015. The winner of the 24 team tournament will fly to Malaysia to represent Brunei and once they beat Malaysia and Thailand, they will sent to the UK to where the finals will take place at Anfield. Awesome, right?

The 24 teams include a team from the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, Telbru and the media team (Media United) to name a few.

The biggest winners were OLSCB who scored 4-0 over HBS F.I.T in Group H. The tournament continues tonight at Indoor Stadium. Public is more than welcome to catch the matches.

Present were Rino Donosepoetro, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank Brunei and Hj Abdul Malik Hj Mohammad, Director of the Department of Youth and Sports.

Rino Donosepoetro said, “We are extremely delighted that Brunei will be represented among the 19 participating markets who are also vying for a chance to advance to Anfield and I am extremely hopeful that we will be one of those countries who will make it through.”

This event is made possible by SCB Brunei and they are very grateful with the support by Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports and endorsed by the National Football Association of Brunei Darussalam (NFABD) in assisting SCB Brunei with the upcoming event. Images courtesy of Khairil Hassan.

With team SHLM/EasyWay

With Media United

A token of appreciation

Futsal players in action

Guest of honour greeting the players

The captains of the teams

The results last night

 

Pg Sarimah Pg Hj Abd Latiff, mentor and founding member of TEDxGadong, Edward Findlay, US Embassy Public Affairs Officer and Abdul Malik Omar, Chairman and Co-Partner of TEDxGadong at the iCentre last Sunday.

Great job by Abdul Malik Omar and his team for the recent TEDxYouth@Gadong event that took place at the iCentre last Sunday. I only managed to catch two of the final speakers as I had prior commitments to begin with. Nonetheless it was my first presence at this event and I would like to congratulate Abdul Malik Omar to pull off another great session.

This time round, the speakers are not even seasoned speakers. They represent the youth and all the speakers are in the their teen years. What an excellent platform for them to speak in public and share their messages from their experiences and furthermore inspire the audience.

The speakers were as follow:

• Sidharth Raj and Osama bin Tariq on ” Negative Effects of Technology”

• Seyrence on “Bullying”

• Ruby Lim on”Forestry Management”

• Eric Ngu on “Don’t ask “why, ask why not?””

• Awangku Naim on “Youth Leadership”

• Brandon Chin on “The Silent Youth”

• Hee Sang Hong on ” The Ridiculousness of Comparing Yourself to Others”

I kinda enjoyed Hee Sang Hong’s presentation and I believe it relates to all of us whether we like it or not. For someone to pick this awareness up at a very young age, I salute you because this is not an easy thing to share and many of us tend not to acknowledge it due to our high ego.

To the TEDxYouth@Gadong, keep it up and you can follow them on social media @tedxgadong on instagram or check out their Facebook page. Images courtesy of TEDxGadong.

Some of the youth speakers and the attendees

Networking during the break

Hee Sang Hong’s interesting take on comparison. Nicely presented.

Iskandar, didn’t know you were there too :p

Izzah of Brunei Economic Development Board talking about entrepreneurship

 

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Pengiran Mohd Nasir Pengiran Anak Ja’afar made our country proud by winning gold in the bronze category of the Competition Showjumping International (CSI) 2-Star International Event in Oliva, Spain

I knew he will make it to the summit one day. With more support and encouragement, Pengiran Mohd Nasir Pengiran Anak Ja’afar will make a name for Brunei over and over again. He bagged a gold medal in the bronze category of the Competition Showjumping International (CSI) 2-Star International Event in Oliva, Spain.

The name of his horse is Rudolf Z and he beat his nearest challenger Christiane Boos of Germany and Stephanie Bichsel of Switzerland.

Of course, the highlight moment was when Brunei’s national anthem was echoed during the prize presentation.

The victory propelled to his argument for being excluded from the ASIAN games 2014 as he is confident that he can compete among the best in Europe and that surely can be a good bench mark to be part of the ASIAN games. Pg Nasir has bigger dreams and he is focusing for the upcoming Olympics 2016. He will need full support from the people and also from the relevant authorities to make his dream possible and make our country proud. Images courtesy of @pg_nasir

Pg Nasir with his horse Rudolf Z

Nice saddle, bro

Pg Nasir being featured in Borneo Bulletin. Click here to read more.

 

Alberix Niigata vs DPMM FC highlights

Adi Said back in scoring form and scored the vital goal. Image courtesy of Halim Hakim of S•League

Report by Redzwan Kamarudin from Singapore: They have one hand on the Great-Eastern Yeo’s S.League trophy, and only need one more win to lift it.

Brunei DPMM are only one win away from becoming S.League champions after they defeated Albirex Nigata 1-0 at the Jurong East Stadium last night.

Adi Said’s header just after the hour mark, his seventh goal this season, proved to be the only difference as DPMM fought hard and snapped their five games winless streak.

The result means that a win from their showdown against defending champions Tampines Rovers this Friday at the Jalan Besar Stadium will see the Bruneian outfit be declared champions.

Speaking after the match, DPMM head coach Steve Kean said: “It feels great to be back in control. I don’t think we’ve been playing badly recently, but we just haven’t been ruthless.

“We haven’t been getting clean sheets, and I’ve been giving my defenders a hard time because of it. They’re paid to defend, and we haven’t had any clean sheets.

“But tonight they threw their bodies on the line and I’m so proud of them, and I expect the same from the team on Friday.”

The first team line up from DPMM FC last night. Image courtesy of Halim Hakim of S•League

Azwan Salleh taking the captain role for DPMM FC last night. Image courtesy of Halim Hakim of S•League

Roy O’Donovan arguing with the referee last night. Image courtesy of Halim Hakim of S•League

DPMM will also become only the second foreign team to win the league, after French outfit Etoile FC who were the winners in the 2010 season.

Kean’s men came into the match on the back of a draw with Balestier Khalsa (1-1), a loss against fellow title contenders Warriors FC (3-2), Home United (3-4) in the RHB Singapore Cup semi final, and nothing but a win would keep their title hopes alive and in their own hands.

Tampines and DPMM have met twice this season, with the Stags defeating their Bruneian counterparts 2-1 on both occasions. Yet Kean remains unfazed.

He said: “I don’t pay much attention to past games. When it’s the last game of the season, anything goes.

“We always want to create chances, no matter what kind of formation we’ll play. And against Tampines we don’t want to just hang on and play their kind of game, but we want to take the game right to them and score the goals.”

Roy O’Donovan shown the red card in the dying minutes. Image courtesy of Halim Hakim of S•League

DPMM FC head coach Steve Kean talking to the press. Image courtesy of Halim Hakim of S•League

Beating the defending champions is already a tall order, but DPMM’s task isn’t made easier after marquee signing Roy O’Donovan was sent off late into injury time for a disagreement with a referee.

The suspension means that the Irish hitman won’t be available for the crucial match against Tampines, and they will have to rely on the league’s top scorer Rodrigo Tosi (30 goals) to lead them up front.

DPMM and Warriors are both locked on 50 points atop the league table with Kean’s men leading just by goal difference (34 to DPMM, 17 to Warriors).

Even if DPMM fail to beat Tampines this Friday, they can still lift the title providing Albirex beat Warriors at Chua Chu Kang Stadium.

Kean though, isn’t expecting any favours at all from his counterparts.

He said: “We’re still in control of our own destiny.

“We’ve been working hard for the past 11 months. We want to show how much we’ve improved, and we’re going to go all out for a win.”

 

FREE ADMISSION tonight

The final tier round hasn’t been smooth sailing for DPMM FC. Having a six point cushion at one stage and losing two home games, DPMM FC have themselves to blame for the major slip but they can bounce back and make their final home match count against Balestier Khalsa FC tonight at the Hassanal Bolkiah Stadium.

The back-to-back home defeats have piled pressure on DPMM FC and the two week break was much needed for DPMM FC to get back on the drawing board and learn from their mistakes. I do hope that the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup qualifiers won’t have a draining impact on the players as most of the DPMM FC players were being featured for the qualifiers and they only have two days rest before continuing the S•League match.

DPMM FC head coach Steve Kean felt that it won’t be a disadvantage for DPMM FC players (after returning from a taxing AFF Suzuki Cup qualifiers) who will go up against a crucial tie against Balestier Khalsa in the remaining fixtures of the S•League. He shared that most of the young players were being featured and it shouldn’t be a problem especially to the senior players when they play tonight at the Hassanal Bolkiah Stadium.

The only player that might be doubtful is Shahrazen Said who nursing a slight hamstring strain but Kean is happy to have Rodrigo Tosi returned after serving his suspension which will give more attacking options for DPMM FC. The imports have been training on their own when the local players were in the AFF competition.

Kean felt that the points on board more important and if DPMM FC can win all their remaining fixtures, the S•League title will be DPMM FC’s first. Currently Warriors FC are leading by four points though DPMM FC have two games in hand. Hence it’s vital that DPMM FC get all three points tonight and put pressure on title contenders Warriors FC.

It’s sad news for Tampines Rovers as their title defence came to an end two nights ago when they lost to Warriors FC. The result meant that there will be a new champion in the S•League and it will be a two horse race between Warriors FC and DPMM FC. Albirex Niigata FC (S) still have a mathematical chance of winning unless Warriors lose their last game of the season.

Do catch DPMM FC tonight against Balestier Khalsa FC and the match entrance is FREE. Do spread the news.

Steve Kean being interviewed by the press

A customary part of training to work as a team

The standing so far

 

DPMM FC still leading by two points

What a strange result to begin with! DPMM FC had home soil advantage against Warriors FC and with the 12th man (the supporters and the crowd) and yet they were struggling against the visitors. DPMM FC had a healthy lead of five points but now it has been cut short to two points.

DPMM FC now have lost twice at home in a row. Last night was indeed a surprising and disappointing effort from the home team. The crosses and the long balls became their desperate tactics to chase the game but the Warriors keeper was always the first to spoil the attacking threat from DPMM FC in the final 15 minutes of the match.

We have learnt something from the match and that is DPMM FC’s main weakness is set pieces. The previous game was also influenced by set pieces and last night’s match was no different. The final two goals from Warriors were from free kick and it was 3-1 to Warriors with 30 minutes left.

However, it was the visitors who were more composed and managed to apply more pressure whenever DPMM FC was in possession of the ball. DPMM FC surely missed the presence of the scoring talisman Rodrigo Tosi who missed the game through suspension.

DPMM FC coach Steve Kean thought the two free kick decisions were dubious to begin with and DPMM FC were good for the first 35 minutes before the visitors slowly built their momentum and punished DPMM FC with their set pieces.

Now with the international break due to Brunei’s participation in the AFC qualifiers, it’s back to the drawing board for DPMM FC as they have two weeks to prepare before their next home game against Singapore Cup finalists Balestier on 25th October. It is not known yet if the upcoming match will have a free entrance as before.

Last night’s crowd didn’t reach the heights of 10,000 spectators but it was still a sizable presence. Thank you to the DPMM FC management for making it possible last night. It was just unfortunate that the results didn’t go in DPMM FC’s favour.

DPMM FC’s long ball tactics was well read by the Warriors FC’s keeper

It was good to see Shahrazen back on the scoring sheet

Steve Kean was pretty animated in the last 10 minutes of the match

 

Thank you, DPMM FC

The bigger, the better. Yess, we need all the support we can get for the next crucial DPMM FC match. They will take on Warriors FC on Tuesday evening and should DPMM FC win that match, they will have an 8 point gap advantage over Warriors FC and also restore their five point gap over their closest rivals. Actually should DPMM FC win their next two games, it will be virtually DPMM FC’s championship in the S•League. But let’s not go far ahead just for now. I remember Liverpool who had a comfortable lead last season only to falter in the last few matches to allow Manchester City to come back from behind to clinch the title.

I would agree also on Ali Hj Momin’s sentiment that sometimes it’s better to chase the game than to be ahead. Another great example was when DPMM FC had a two goal cushion lead in the second leg of the semi-finals of the Singapore Cup but blew their lead away eventually. Though DPMM FC, have a healthy lead in the S•League, anything can happen. Hence it’s important for DPMM FC to get all the support they can get from their supporters and friends.

It was announced that the upcoming match will be FREEEEEEEE…. Yes, FREEEEE!!! So there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be part of the thousands of fans at the Hassanal Bolkiah Stadum this Tuesday evening as you guys will be their 12th man on the pitch. It does make a difference to have a huge support from the crowd and this was evident during the Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy and that stage Brunei U-21 was so close in reaching the semi-finals.

The DPMM FC team manager hopes that there will be at least 10,000 supporters. The usual average crowd in DPMM FC matches are around 3,000 people but lately the support has been slightly waning. So this is a good gesture by DPMM FC management team and this is also good for the organiser as well.

The tickets will be issued at the two gates of the usual entrance for DPMM FC matches. The tickets are only available at the gates and you will get them once you enter and this is for attendance purposes. The tickets issued will be of no charge at all. There won’t be any luck draws for this particular match. I believe you can start queueing after Maghrib prayers.

All the best DPMM FC and yes, we are just a few steps away from claiming the first S•League title.

 

There were 7 minutes away from reaching their first finals of the Singapore RHB Cup last week but like they also say the ball is always round and anything can happen.

DPMM FC were 3-1 up on aggregate earlier by the first 45 minutes before Home United staged a miracle and dumped DPMM FC out of the tournament. Roy O’Donovan and Rodrigo Tosi have given DPMM FC the luxury of a two goal cushion but Sirina Camara scored a crucial goal before half time and it went down hill after the break.

DPMM FC ended losing 4-3 on aggregate after coming off in a 1-1 draw in the first leg.

“I got to agree that it is very disappointing but in every game you got to learn from it and most of the players have never been in this situation before, the semi-final of this cup, but I told my players that we have done so well in the league and we need to bounce back against the Warriors,” said Steve Kean, DPMM FC head coach, in the post-match conference last week.

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“When we were defending high against the quick players, (especially) when we dropped back, what happened in front was the midfielders started to track all the players but the back four drops and they (Home United) got players like Lee (Lee Kwan Woo) and Qiu (Qiu Li) who have the abilities to open up the game when they have the space. They did not have that space in the first-half,” he said.

Tosi challenges the ball in their 3-2 defeat against Home United last week in the Singapore Cup. Image courtesy of S•League

DPMM FC’s Azwan Ali in action last week in the 2nd leg of the semi-finals of the Singapore Cup. Image courtesy of S•League.

Back in the S•League matches, Balestier Khalsa’s Goran Ljubojevic scored a penalty for the crucial victory. DPMM FC still hold a 5 point cushion lead from last night’s result between Balestier Khalsa and Home United. Image courtesy of S•League.

It was a relief that Warriors FC failed to gain any points last night against the resurgent Balestier Khalsa FC who scored a late penalty through Goran Ljubojevic. This means that DPMM FC lead (46 points) maintains by 5 points over next rivals Warriors FC, Albirex Niigata FC and Home United (41 points). Tonight Home United or Tampines Rovers FC have the chance to close the gap for any chance to catch up with DPMM FC. A draw won’t do them any favour indeed.

DPMM FC will take on Warriors FC at Hassanal Bolkiah Stadium next Tuesday. Let’s hope for a much needed home win and with four games remaining, it’s DPMM FC’s title to lose now.

In other news, DPMM FC has a new ambassador for the isotonic drink YOU•C1000 and he will be featured in advertorials for the said product. Recently there was handover of the poster from Katherine Hii whose company distributes YOU*C1000 isotonic drink to DPMM FC full back Sairol Sahari

 

DPMM FC in action against Home United at the Hassanal Bolkiah Stadium. Image courtesy of Ridhwan Kamarulzaman of The Brunei Times.

It didn’t go as planned. DPMM FC couldn’t convert their impressive training performance to a competitive match against Home United last Wednesday and they paid dearly for their miss chances. Home United scored two late goals to sink DPMM FC to their first defeat in the 3rd round of the S•League competition.

However, it was Rodrigo Tosi who drew first blood as he tapped in from close range, off an Azwan Salleh cross down the left in the 76th minute. The lead didn’t last long as the visitors scored three minutes later through a corner kick. The winner came in the 88th minute and it was a little too late for DPMM FC to salvage at least a point.

DPMM FC were better in the second half despite the defeat but it was the two identical goals they conceded cheaply that made the difference. DPMM FC could have scored more goals but hats off to the defence of Home United for holding DPMM FC at bay. Even the keeper of Home United had one or two crucial saves and that made a difference.

DPMM FC still lead the league but their gap can be trimmed down to two points if Warriors FC win their next game (1st October). DPMM FC have two more home games to redeem themselves and it could be the most crucial games to date before their final two matches which will be played in Singapore. It was a bit disappointed to see a low turnout at the Hassanal Bolkiah Stadium.

 

Steve Kean is confident that DPMM FC will get all three points as the players are raring to play after a mini-break in the S•League competition. DPMM FC had dropped a few important points at home previously but managed to grab other points and have a five point gap in the league. Kean was not surprised that the other contenders were also dropping points in the last few games as they could have overtaken the lead from DPMM FC.

Kean was very happy with how the lads have shown on the training pitch and he shared how the performance of both the first and the second team wasn’t much of a difference compared to the beginning of the season. The squad’s depth is stronger than before and this will give better options for the coach during the match.

He did show a slight concern that the lack of match practice might affect the momentum but it did give the coach plenty of time to work of tactics and fitness during the mini-break. Furthermore, Roy O’Donovan is still nursing a slight hamstring injury but he should be featured in tomorrow’s match.

The key player here will be Adi Said who have been in scoring form in the past few games for DPMM FC. But will the mini-break slow down his momentum? His presence had added more dimension in DPMM FC’s attack especially with Rodrigo Tosi and Roy O’Donovan upfront.

So peeps, do catch DPMM FC tomorrow against Home United at the Hassanal Bolkiah Stadium.

DPMM FC players in training session yesterday at Jerudong Mini Stadium

It was good to see all the players hungry for action during training

Steve Kean shared that the difference between the first and the second team’s performance is getting smaller which is great for the squad

Shooting practice session

Steve Kean is so eager for the match tomorrow against Home United FC

The fixtures for DPMM FC to determine which team will lift the S•League trophy