Brunei DPMM vs Geylang International

(24 July, Monday, 8.15pm, Bandar Seri Begawan)

Written by: Ryan Low

It will be a battle between The New Paper League Cup semi-finalists as the Great Eastern-Hyundai S.League resumes with Brunei DPMM hosting Geylang International at the Hassanal Bolkiah Stadium on Monday night.

DPMM failed in their bid to reach a fourth League Cup final in five years, losing 5-1 to losing finalists Warriors FC in the last four.

However, the Wasps can take heart from a good run in the group stage where they scored 11 goals in just three matches – demolishing Tampines Rovers and Balestier Khalsa 5-1 and 3-0 respectively, before coming from two goals down to hold Geylang International to a 3-3 draw.

That will stand them in good stead as the Bruneians look to resurrect a nightmarish S.League campaign that yielded just one win and one draw from 11 matches.

Currently lying second from bottom, they are three points off nearest rivals Balestier Khalsa and a massive 14 points behind sixth-placed Geylang.

“We’re not disappointed not to win the League Cup. The fact that we’ve done well in the group stages, we’re looking to kickstart our season again,” insisted coach Steve Kean, who is into his fourth season in charge of the club.

“Basically we have a fresh new team now; a new goalkeeper, two new central defenders, a new right-back and a changed midfield.To compete in the tournament with predominantly local boys and no forward imports, it has been good for us.

“We’ve been improving before the league took a break, with the performances against Albirex (Niigata (S)) and Warriors FC although we lost both games.

“Now we just need to use this tournament as a springboard to get back into form for the league,” added the former Blackburn Rovers team manager.

However, it will not be easy for the 2015 champions though as they face up to another rejuvenated outfit in Geylang.

The Eagles have shown good form since Noor Ali succeeded Hasrin Jailani in the coaching hot seat – losing just two out of the seven games under the tutelage of the former Singapore international.

One of those was an unfortunate 3-2 penalty shootout defeat to Global-Cebu after a 4-4 draw in 120 minutes in the Singapore Cup preliminary round, while the other was a 4-0 defeat to Albirex in the League Cup semi-finals that halted their good run in the competition.

With nothing except the S.League to play for, Noor wants his side to carry on this momentum to finish at the higher end of the table.

“Now we’re looking forward to the last 11 league games. Now we need to start earning points because we want to finish higher than last season,” said the former Singapore international.

Suspension: Vincent Salas (Brunei DPMM)

Brunei DPMM – LWWDL

18/07/17 Brunei DPMM 1-5 Warriors FC (The New Paper League Cup)

14/07/17 Brunei DPMM 3-3 Geylang International (The New Paper League Cup)

11/07/17 Brunei DPMM 3-0 Balestier Khalsa (The New Paper League Cup)

08/07/17 Tampines Rovers 1-5 Brunei DPMM (The New Paper League Cup)

02/07/17 Warriors FC 1-0 Brunei DPMM

Geylang International – WWWDL

18/07/17 Albirex Niigata (S) 4-0 Geylang International (The New Paper League Cup)

14/07/17 Brunei DPMM 3-3 Geylang International (The New Paper League Cup)

11/07/17 Tampines Rovers 1-4 Geylang International (The New Paper League Cup)

08/07/17 Balestier Khalsa 0-2 Geylang International (The New Paper League Cup)

02/07/17 Geylang International 2-1 Garena Young Lions

Head to Head (S.League)

20/04/17 Geylang International 2-0 Brunei DPMM

11/08/16 Geylang International 1-1 Brunei DPMM

30/04/16 Brunei DPMM 1-2 Geylang International

20/02/16 Geylang International 1-1 Brunei DPMM

03/11/15 Geylang International 2-1 Brunei DPMM