Written by: Dwayne James

Warriors FC slumped to their seventh defeat in all competitions after Brunei DPMM cruised to a comfortable 3-0 win in Brunei on Friday night.

Warriors captain Zulfadli Zainal Abidin turned the ball into his own net in the opening half to give DPMM the lead.

The hosts took control of the game after the interval resulting in the duo of Rafael Ramazotti and Paulo Sergio getting their names on the scoresheet to complete the win at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium in Berakas.

 

The hosts were on target in the 11th minute after Azwan Ali Rahman made his way into the box before pulling back for Maududi Kasmi but his attempt from just outside the box didn’t trouble Warriors custodian Yazid Yasin.

Hafiz Nor was on target in the 10th minute but he fired straight at DPMM shotstopper Wardun Yussof.

The Brunei side took the lead off a counterattack in the 26th minute after Azwan Ali’s shot was poked home by Zulfadli.

Warriors were missing the presence of their forwards Nikola Rak and Jonathan Behe to penetrate the DPMM backline. They were dependent on set-pieces and Shaiful Esah tested Wardun three minutes later with a good freekick but the latter kept out his effort.

 

DPMM had a good opportunity in the 33rd minute but Brian McLean nodded Azwan’s freekick to the far post just wide. Meanwhile at the other end of the pitch, Shaiful struck a powerful freekick from the edge of the box just inches over the DPMM goal in the 43rd minute.

The hosts should have added another just before the interval as Azwan was sent through on goal down the left. However, he chose to play the ball to Sergio in the middle instead of firing at goal allowing Yazid to come off his line to close down the shot.

The Warriors weren’t getting many opportunities and Marijan Suto should have capitalised on his free header in the 53rd minute but couldn’t divert it at goal. Hafiz Rahim tried to score off a tight angle on the right three minutes later but only met the side netting.

 

Sergio was on target in the 60th minute with his freekick from 20 yards out but Yazid was there to deal with it. Another chance went begging for the Portuguese forward, who is returning from a two-game suspension, two minutes later but he rifled his shot from inside the box off the right-hand post.

DPMM doubled their advantage in the 63rd minute after Ramazotti headed home off an Azwan corner kick.

It was evident where the match was headed as the Warriors couldn’t trouble DPMM at goal. Ramazotti could have added another to his tally in added time with a strike from 12 yards out but Yazid was there to deny him.

However, the shotstopper couldn’t stop what was to come just before the final whistle. Aminuddin Zakwan made a good run against the Warriors defence before cutting back for Sergio to blast home another to complete the victory.

 

Brunei DPMM coach Steve Kean: “Normally it is really tight whoever we play in the first half and second half we get stronger. Physically they (the players) feel they get stronger in the second half. Maybe we have seen tactically how the game is panning out and made a couple of small adjustments.”

 

Warriors FC coach Razif Onn: “I think it is very difficult to stop this run. I believe that looking at the way we played especially in the second half we were letting things go easily for the opponent. In the first half we needed to control the players Ramazotti and Sergio. We managed to but in the second half we let them play. If this is going to happen in every match in the second half I think we got nowhere to go.”

Brunei DPMM FC: Wardun Yussof (GK), Awangku Fakharazzi (Aminuddin Zakwan 81’), Brian McLean, Azwan Salleh, Azwan Ali Rahman (Shahrazen Said 90’), Paulo Sergio, Najib Tarif, Maududi Kasmi, Rosmin Kamis (C), Rafael Ramazotti, Yura Indera Putera

Warriors FC: Yazid Yasin (GK), Zulfadli Zainal (C), Syaqir Sulaiman, Ismail Yunos, Kento Fukuda, Shaiful Esah, Hafiz Nor, Ridhuan Muhamad, Hafiz Osman, Hafiz Rahim (Hafsyar Farkhan 78’), Marijan Suto (Andy Ahmad 78’)