Written By: Kenneth Ho
Brunei DPMM coach Steve Kean said that it was a pleasure for his side to finish on a high after they beat Global FC 3-1 to clinch third place in the RHB Singapore Cup.
While it would have been sweeter had they made it to the finals, Kean is satisfied with how far his side have come this year.
“Very pleased because it’s a long off season and when you win your last game to cap off the season it feels good; it doesn’t matter if it’s for third and fourth or first and second,” Kean said after the match.
The bar has been set really high this season by DPMM, as they captured the Great Eastern Yeo’s S.League title and came close in the Singapore Cup.
But Kean is targeting for more next season, as he believes it is his duty to do so and help Brunei develop their state of football.
“We want to just try and keep improving next season,” Kean said.
“It’s just a learning process so we keep trying to get better. That’s important for Brunei because we have a small batch of players in our club but hopefully they can go on to help the national team.”
On the other hand, Global FC coach Leigh Manson was disgruntled at finishing in fourth place and he believed his side deserved better after putting in so much hard work for the tournament.
Manson was especially unhappy after his side had seemingly come from two goals down to draw level with DPMM, only for the referee to chalk off Dennis Villanueva’s goal after deeming the midfielder to be offside.
“We don’t feel good about anything to be honest,” Manson asserted.
“We have continued training for two months to be part of this tournament and at the minute my players are asking me why they have lost.
“We are a good team, and I think it should have finished one each and it goes to penalty… that would actually be a great advert for your football.”
But Manson added that his side have enjoyed their stint in Singapore and expressed hopes that they will be invited back once again.
“We are hurting at the minute, but we can’t say much more than that,” he said.
“But we enjoyed coming to Singapore, and it’s probably the second highest level we ever played in, aside from the AFC Cup, so yeah we would love to be back.”
