Brunei DPMM vs Home United

(8 September, Friday, 8.15pm, Bandar Seri Begawan)

Written by: Rashid Sulaiman

Great Eastern-Hyundai S.League title hopefuls Home United will be seeking to keep the pressure on leaders Albirex Niigata (S) when they travel to Bandar Seri Begawan to take on Brunei DPMM on Friday night.

Home are coming into this match buoyed with confidence as they have a perfect record over DPMM this season, with two wins in the S.League and the RHB Singapore Cup against Steve Kean’s team.

In those matches, Aidil Sharin’s charges have mustered a staggering 18 goals against the Bruneians over four matches, with Singapore international Faris Ramli scoring a total of seven goals against the Wasps this campaign.

All three encounters ended with the Protectors winning 3-1 over DPMM while the other match saw Home cruise to an emphatic 9-3 victory, with Faris netting four goals in that match.

“We had an amazing run for many games, which outlines our confidence in approaching every game,” said Faris.

“The team have gelled very well and the chemistry between each player is there. It will be difficult for them to break us down.”

The Protectors are currently third in the league’s standing on 30 points while DPMM are in eighth position on five points.

A win for the Bishan-based club will see them leapfrog second-placed Tampines Rovers who will be taking on Hougang United the following day.

While DPMM arrested their losing run with a 2-2 draw against Balestier Khalsa in the S.League, Kean was not too pleased with his performance of his charges.

“I’m actually disappointed with the result. I gave them a roasting at half time because heads went down after our keeper made a mistake for the first half. We could have prevented it if we had two to three defenders going back to the line to clear,” said Kean who will be expecting more from his foreign trio of Rafael Ramazotti, Daud Javarez and Vincent Reyes.

“In the second half, we put in the Said brothers and they gave Ramazotti the service. We pinned the Balestier defence back in their own box and it was like a training session.

“Our first half of the season was dreadful but I believe we can finish the season strongly,” added the former Blackburn Rovers manager.

With goals leaking at the back Kean might consider giving Wardun Yussof a chance between the sticks again. The former Brunei international suffered a thumb injury in May and despite being fully fit now, he has been playing second fiddle to Awangku Mu’izzuddin.

“It’s about time. I’m training hard every session and hope that it will open coach’s eyes. “I will just keep doing what I do best for now. I’m a competitive type of person,” Wardun said in an interview with BruSports News last week.

“That’s why I’m still playing compared to most of my colleagues who are of the same age,” he added.

“There are always ups and downs in football. After almost 20 years, I injured my finger for the first time. I just need a little push and I’ll be back for sure.”

For Home, while they had more than two weeks of rest, several of their players were on international duty with the Singapore national team against Hong Kong in a friendly match followed by an AFC Asian Cup 2019 Group E qualifier against Turkmenistan three days prior to this match.

Among those players that were on international duty includes key players such as goalkeeper Hassan Sunny, Irfan Fandi, Hariss Harun, Faris Ramli and Izzdin Shafiq although Irfan has not been selected to be in the travelling party for this one.

“This month is a do-or-die thing for us and we need to collect maximum points from all our game in order to stay close to Albirex Niigata(S),” said Aidil.

“We come to training every day to put ourselves in a better condition and I believe we can do well together and even though we are playing away in Brunei, I’m sure our fans are rooting for us back home. We will do it for the fans,” added the Home head coach.

Brunei DPMM – LLLLD

21/08/17 Balestier Khalsa 2-2 Brunei DPMM

16/08/17 Home United 3-1 Brunei DPMM (RHB Singapore Cup)

13/08/17 Brunei DPMM 1-3 Home United (RHB Singapore Cup)

28/07/17 Tampines Rovers 2-0 Brunei DPMM

24/07/17 Brunei DPMM 0-1 Geylang International

Home United – DWLWW

16/08/17 Home United 3-1 Brunei DPMM (RHB Singapore Cup)

13/08/17 Brunei DPMM 1-3 Home United (RHB Singapore Cup)

09/08/17 Ceres-Negros FC 2-0 Home United (AFC Cup)

02/08/17 Home United 2-1 Ceres-Negros FC (AFC Cup)

25/07/17 Home United 1-1 Warriors FC

Head to Head (S.League)

25/05/17 Home United 9-3 Brunei DPMM

03/03/17 Brunei DPMM 1-3 Home United

23/09/16 Brunei DPMM 3-1 Home United

19/05/16 Home United 5-0 Brunei DPMM

11/03/16 Brunei DPMM 2-1 Home United