Written by: Phoon Jia Hui

Brunei DPMM made it three wins out of three in the Great Eastern Yeo’s S.League as they brushed aside Home United 3-0 at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Friday night.

Roy O’Donovan grabbed a brace either side of half-time to finally break his goalscoring duck while Rodrigo Tosi scored the other goal to propel DPMM to pole position temporarily.

A delighted Steve Kean hailed his charges after the game but insisted they were still a work in progress.

“When we don’t have possession of the ball, we worked very hard – not only the back four but the whole team,” he said after the match.

“There were periods in the game where after you score, you’re always a little bit open to conceding but we kept our concentration and worked our socks off the ball. It wasn’t the three goals but the clean sheet that pleased me most.

“I think they can [play better than what they did today] and we’ve evolved into a real good side but I still think there’s still more to come from us.”

The former Blackburn Rovers manager was also glad to see striker O’Donovan get off the mark, saying he was ‘unlucky’ not to have done so earlier.

“I think he was unlucky not to score last week [against Warriors FC], it was a very close decision that went against him,” he said.

“I thought he was level, but the ref thought he was just offside and there was another one he was pulled down and we didn’t get anything from that.

“Today, there was another header before he scored when Joe Gamble played him in but it was slightly behind him and he was stretching but he’s a good striker and he is forging a good partnership with Rodrigo Tosi.”

Standing in for head coach Lee Lim Saeng, Home assistant coach Aidil Sharin Sahak was gracious in defeat while admitting that playing back-to-back games has taken a toll on the players.

“It’s not going to be easy playing in the S.League and the AFC Cup [in the space of a few days],” he said matter-of-factly.

“Although we have a big squad, we are down to bare bones because of injuries to key players.

“We were second to the ball today, but Brunei did well and I think they did a good job in closing down our key players. Also, I think the likes of Lee [Kwan Woo] and Yasir [Hanapi] are not playing well is maybe due to fatigue and not enough recovery time.”

Along with the rest of the technical staff, Aidil’s immediate task is to lift the mood in the camp as they gear up for their away AFC Cup  match on Tuesday to Churchill Brothers in India where a defeat could effectively spell the end of their continental campaign.

“He (Lee Lim Saeng) is definitely disappointed but we can’t look backwards, we have to look forward. We are travelling to India tomorrow and we have to give lots of motivation to the players. it’s going to be the same squad that will be travelling there, it will not be easy,” said the ex-international.

“It is too early to mention about title. It is a long season and it is better we go slowly and climb up. We want everybody to get fit.”