Written by: Muhammad Yazid

Brunei DPMM claimed third place in the RHB Singapore Cup after narrowly defeating Tampines Rovers 2-1 at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

Miljan Mrdakovic’s goal was cancelled out by Rodrigo Tosi in the first half before the latter struck once again in injury time to award DPMM third place.

The game witnessed many gilt-edged chances, and eventually it came down to which team was the more clinical of the two.

Despite having just lost the title to Warriors, DPMM still managed to put on a good showing as they started the game with intent, seeing Tosi’s header bounce wide off the post in the early moments.

However, Tampines were the ones who broke the deadlock when winger Ismadi Mukhtar was brought down in the left side of the 18-yard area.

Mrdakovic stepped up and coolly tucked his penalty into the bottom corner of the net, sending Wardun Yussof the wrong way in the 16th minute.

Tampines could have doubled their lead in style fifteen minutes before half-time.

After racing towards the penalty area while exchanging a series of one-two with Shahdan Sulaiman, Ismadi sent in a tantalising cross which eluded Wardun and fell nicely for Mrdakovic. However, with the goal unguarded, Mrdakovic contrived to fluff at his shot and sent the ball wide.

The Stags were made to pay for that miss. as two minutes later DPMM got back into the game by pulling level through Tosi.

The equaliser came after Roberto Alviz released Azwan Ali from the centre, and the latter just had to slice the ball towards Tosi for him to side-foot the ball into the back of the net.

The Bruneians could have taken the lead next but Rosmin Kamis’ tame finish off a corner was cleared off the line by Ang Zhi Wei, before Alviz’s free-kick sailed just over the crossbar.

Tampines were keen in regaining their lead in the second half and almost earned it five minutes after the restart, only for Wardun to make a double save and keep the Stags at bay.

Ismadi’s shot was spectacularly saved by Wardun, before the custodian managed to recover in time to parry Duric’s follow-up shot onto the crossbar.

With twenty minutes to go, Tampines created various opportunities to put them back into the driving seat, especially through substitute Jamil Ali’s excellent crosses from the right, but they just could not make it count.

Kaplan’s volley off Jamil’s cross went just wide before the Slovakian’s attempt was easy for the custodian to gather minutes later.

Full-time loomed and just as when everybody expected the game to proceed to the penalty shootout, DPMM managed to strike a deadly blow in dramatic fashion through talismanic striker Tosi.

After Tosi’s header from Azwan Ali’s indirect free-kick was tipped away by Justin Pasfield, Shahrazen Said’s follow-up shot from the rebound hit the crossbar before Tosi charged forward to force the ball into goal.