Written By: Kenneth Ho

Home United earned a 2-0 win over newly-crowned Great Eastern Yeo’s S.League champions Brunei DPMM at the Yisun Stadium to reach the RHB Singapore Cup final.

The Protectors had lost the first leg of the semi-finals by 3-2 but goals from Azhar Sairudin and Imran Sahib allowed them to triumph 4-3 on aggregate.

This will be Home’s third straight appearance in the Cup final, and they will face Japanese side Albirex Niigata (S) after the White Swans beat Global FC 3-2 on aggregate.

It was a game of two halves, as Home dominated the first while DPMM were arguably the better team in the second half.

It took Home 12 minutes to register their first shot on target, with Wardun Yussof required to thwart Ken Ilso.

DPMM responded three minutes later but Shahril Jantan made a good save to prevent Paulo Sergio’s 20-yarder from going in.

The Protectors were relentless though as they continued to pressure the visitors and they were duly rewarded for it in the 22nd minute.

DPMM’s failure to clear the ball after several attempts by Home saw the ball falling for an unmarked Azhar and he made no mistakes from close range to draw his side level on aggregate.

Minutes later, Aminuddin Zakwan had a chance to restore his side’s advantage but he swung his shot over from an acute angle.

Home were then let off in the 32nd minute. Their defence had went to sleep and allowed Sergio to creep in at the far post to meet Joe Gamble’s cross, but the striker stabbed his effort just wide.

Stanely Ng’s enterprising run at the other end saw him afforded much space and time but he rushed his shot and failed to find the target.

Midfielder Azhar tried his luck in the 42nd minute with a long-range attempt but Wardun was equal to the task and the score remained at 1-0 going into half-time.

After a less-than-ideal first-half, DPMM managed to improve considerably after the restart and began to dictate play.

However, they found a resilient Home defence led by Abdil Qaiyyim hard to break down.

When the visitors finally carved Home wide open in the 76th minute, Boris Raspudic contrived to put his shot just past the post from close range.

DPMM were made to pay for that miss just four minutes later, as Home then scored with their only chance of the second half.

After running onto Azhar’s long ball, Ng ran to the byline before finding substitute Imran at the near post and he promptly slotted home what would be the winner.

There were some late dramas though, with DPMM striker Shahrazen Said’s goal being chalked off in the 88th minute after the linesman flagged him for being offside.

Shahril was then called upon to deny Najib Tarif as the Protectors hung on for the win.

Home United: Shahril Jantan (GK), Juma’at Jantan (C), Abdil Qaiyyim, Azhar Sairudin, Ken Ilso, Yasir Hanapi, Sirina Camara, Stanely Ng, Fazli Ayob (Imran Sahib 66′), Sufianto Salleh (Nur Hizami 82), Kamel Ramdani

Brunei DPMM: Wardun Yussof (GK), Sairol Sahari (Azwan Saleh 5′), Brian McLean, Paulo Sergio, Joseph Gamble, Maududi Hilmi (Sharazen Said 86′), Rosmin Kamis (C), Aminuddin Zakwan, Rafael Ramazotti, Helmi Zambin (Najib Tarif 86′), Boris Raspudic