Brunei DPMM vs Balestier Khalsa

(October 25, Saturday, 8.15pm, Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium)

Written by: Phoon Jia Hui

Brunei DPMM return to Great Eastern Yeo’s S.League action as they take on Balestier Khalsa at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium on Saturday evening.

DPMM fell to a narrow 3-2 defeat to Warriors FC at the same venue the last time out, a result which blew the title race wide open and they will be keen to make amends for that.

Following Warriors’ 2-1 win over Tampines Rovers on Thursday, DPMM sit second, four points adrift of the former going into the final three matches of the season. This is therefore a must-win clash if they want to regain pole position.

However, fatigue could be a concern for the Wasps. Seventeen of their players as well as coach Steve Kean were involved in the AFF Suzuki Cup qualifiers for Brunei during the break, in a botched campaign which culminated in four straight defeats.

This could play in the hands of Balestier, who will attempt to play party poopers and dent DPMM’s title hopes.

Balestier though, come into this on the back of a 3-1 loss to Tampines Rovers exactly a week ago as they missed the chance to move to fourth in the standings.

It was a ‘disappointing result’ according to head coach Marko Kraljevic and he will be seeking to rally his troops as they attempt to recover from that.

The 2014 RHB Singapore Cup finalists can perhaps draw confidence from their last meeting with DPMM in August, after holding their more illustrious opponents to a 3-all draw at Toa Payoh.

If the previous matches between the two teams are anything to go by, this should have goals in it. Before the aforementioned match in August, it was DPMM who ran out comfortable 4-1 winners in Berakas in August with Roy O’Donovan and Rodrigo Tosi netting a brace each.

Suspension: Syed Thaha (Balestier Khalsa)

Key Men To Watch

Brunei DPMM: Rodrigo Tosi

With 22 goals to his name, Tosi is the team’s and league’s top scorer and he will therefore be looking to add another goal or two to pull away from the likes of Nicholas Velez and Goran Ljubojevic in the goalscoring charts.

In addition, the Brazilian who is equally adept as a midfielder, has the ability to create and is a threat the Balestier defence cannot take lightly.

Balestier Khalsa: Ruhaizad Ismail

While they might have lost to the Stags in their previous match, Ruhaizad was one of the better performers in the Balestier side.

Deployed on the right wing, he was a thorn in the Tampines backline as he constantly ran at them and whipped crosses for his teammates – one of which nearly resulted in a goal by Goran Ljubojevic.In that game, Ruhaizad also performed his defensive duties admirably, tracking back to assist his defenders from time to time.

Brunei DPMM – LLDLW

7/10/14    Brunei DPMM 2-3 Warriors FC

26/9/14    Brunei DPMM 2-3 Home United (RHB Singapore Cup 2nd Leg; 3-4 on aggregate)

23/9/14    Home United 1-1 Brunei DPMM (RHB Singapore Cup SF 1st Leg)

17/9/14    Brunei DPMM 1-2 Home United

30/8/14    Tanjong Pagar United 1-2 Brunei DPMM

Balestier Khalsa – LWWWL

18/10/14  Tampines Rovers 3-1 Balestier Khalsa

6/10/14    Balestier Khalsa 2-0 Albirex Niigata (S)

1/10/14    Warriors FC 0-1 Balestier Khalsa

25/9/14    Balestier Khalsa (4P) 1-0 (1) Tampines Rovers (RHB Singapore Cup SF 2nd Leg; 2-2 on aggregate)

22/9/14    Tampines Rovers 2-1 Balestier Khalsa (RHB Singapore Cup SF 1st Leg)

Head to Head (S.League)

21/8/14    Balestier Khalsa 3-3 Brunei DPMM

25/4/14    Brunei DPMM 4-1 Balestier Khalsa

21/8/13    Brunei DPMM 1-1 Balestier Khalsa

19/4/13    Balestier Khalsa 0-1 Brunei DPMM

2/11/12    Brunei DPMM 0-2 Balestier Khalsa

10/5/12    Balestier Khalsa 1-3 Brunei DPMM