The Stags were sunk by two goals from Volodymyr Priyomov to leave them 14 points off the pace

Ukrainian striker Volodymyr Priyomov took his league tally to 11.

SINGAPORE, 4 JULY 2018 – Volodymyr Priyomov was the two-goal hero for Brunei DPMM FC at Our Tampines Hub, opening the scoring five minutes before the break before sealing the victory against Tampines Rovers FC when he converted from the spot nine minutes after the restart.

With leaders Albirex Niigata FC (S) beating Hougang United FC 2-1 on the same evening, the Stags are now 14 points behind with just ten games left to go.

It could have, however, been a far different story had Tampines made the most of their chances in the second half.

They also were not helped by the fairly lacklustre start they made to the game, which afforded their opponents control of proceedings in the opening 45 minutes.

DPMM, who had not looked particularly threatening prior, duly broke the deadlock in the 39th minute when Mojtaba Mollasaraei’s incisive pass sent Adi Said racing in behind the opposition defence.

Advancing into the box, Adi unselfishly squared the ball to Priyomov, who sent an emphatic finish into the top corner for his 10th goal of the campaign.

Just three minutes into the second half, the Bruneian outfit were presented with a glorious opportunity to double their lead when Shameer Aziq was adjudged to have handled Adi’s right-wing cross following an unfortunate bounce.

It was no surprise that Priyomov stepped up to the spot and he made no mistake from 12 yards, sending Syazwan the wrong way to put his side further in front.

By now, the visitors were firmly in control of proceedings but to their credit, Tampines then stepped up a gear in a bid to get back into the contest.

Yasir Hanapi had Haimie Nyaring scampering to his near post with a free-kick into the side-netting in the 61st minute, before Khairul Amri had a couple of decent efforts but was just unable to find the target.

Then, a moment of controversy arose in the 72nd minute when Amri failed to cleanly connect with Fazrul Nawaz’s flick-on, only for Haimie to look to have fumbled the ball over the line.

But with the linesman not flagging, the referee was left with no other option but to wave away Tampines’ vehement appeals.

Another appeal in the 81st minute, this time claiming for handball inside the area after another Amri attempt was blocked, was also dismissed.

The Stags were finally awarded a penalty in injury-time when Jordan Webb was felled inside the box by Helmi Zambin but Fazrul spurned the opportunity by blazing wildly wide, allowing DPMM to seal their first clean sheet of the season and a result that could yet prove to be pivotal in the title race.

WHAT THEY SAID
Tampines Head Coach Juergen Raab: “For me, it’s a big surprise how we played in the first half. Coming into this game on the back of two wins, I expected us to start with confidence and make the next step in securing second place. We were in a position to enjoy the match but no one was willing to take a risk and I must say we played terribly. In the last half-hour, when we started to play, we actually showed the kind of football we’re capable of but maybe in the end we didn’t deserve anything from this game.”

DPMM Head Coach Rene Weber: “The right word to use today is ‘teamwork’. Particularly, with the way we defended, it was a good performance because one of the areas we’ve talked about is for the players to come back and help out in defence. And you saw that today with Adi [Said] and Mojtaba [Mollasaraei] on the wings – they came back to help. Tampines are an experienced team and we knew it was a big challenge to win this game. So today is a good performance, but we can do better.”

Tampines: Syazwan Buhari (GK), Irfan Najeeb, Fahrudin Mustafic, Daniel Bennett (Fazrul Nawaz 58’), Shameer Aziq (Irwan Shah 76’), Yasir Hanapi, Amirul Adli, Hafiz Abu Sujad (Zulfadhmi Suzliman 61’), Ryutaro Megumi, Jordan Webb, Khairul Amri.
Unused subs: Hariz Farid (GK), Faizal Raffi, Madhu Mohana, Haziq Razzali.

DPMM: Haimie Nyaring (GK), Helmi Zambin, Abdul Aziz Tamit, Brian McLean, Suhaimi Sulau, Adi Said (Shafie Effendy 77’), Yura Indera Putera (Hanif Hamir 84’), Hendra Azam (Nur Ikhwan Othman 84’), Mojtaba Mollasaraei, Volodymyr Priyomov, Shahrazen Said.
Unused subs: Wardun Yussof (GK), Abdul Azizi Rahman, Najib Tarif, Awangku Fakharrazi.