Written by Dwayne James

Brunei DPMM bounced back to winning ways in the Great Eastern-Yeo’s S.League after dispatching the Garena Young Lions 4-1 on Friday night at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium.

Maududi Hilmi Kamis gave the defending champions an early lead before Fareez Farhan equalised just before halftime.

The Brunei side dominated proceedings after the interval, which saw the duo of Rafael Ramazotti and Paulo Sergio getting their names on the scoresheet. Amirul Adli was the other to find the back of the net with an own goal.

The deadlock was broken in the fourth minute after Sergio produced a cross from the right and it was headed down by Ramazotti at the far post for Maududi to score from close range.

The Young Lions were given a let off in the 13th minute after Sergio’s free-kick from some 20 yards out bounced off the woodwork.

Ramazotti towered over everyone for a powerful header in the 26th minute but couldn’t place it on target.

The Wasps took their foot off the pedal and were making too many passes resulting in nothing materialising in front of goal.

The Young Lions had a good opportunity to pull things level in the 33rd minute after Hami Syahin whipped in a good ball from the left, but Fareez failed to connect with it.

Three minutes later, Amirul got his head at the end of a corner but couldn’t trouble DPMM goalkeeper Wardun Yussof.

The hosts then saw defender Yura Indera Putera almost turning the ball into his own net off a corner in the 44th minute.

The Young Lions equalised the next minute after a ball was played forward to Shannon Stephen and he squared the ball to his right for Fareez to slot home as Wardun came off his line to close down the former.

Fareez continued to be a bright spot for the Young Lions and should have bulge the net three minutes after halftime, but Wardun was to his equal as he produced a good save. The rebound fell kindly to Fareez, but he squandered the chance by blasting the ball over.

 

DPMM regained the lead at the other end two minutes later after Ramazotti headed past Young Lions custodian Benjamin Bertrand off a corner.

The advantage was doubled in the 58th minute after a clearance by Bertrand fell to Ramazotti and the Brazilian forward put in a cross which was slid into his own net by Amirul.

It could have been a bigger deficit for the Young Lions, but Bertrand was up to the task to deny both Sergio and Ramazotti in the 61st and 63rd minutes.

The Young Lions should have pulled one back off a counter-attack in numbers in the 70th minute, but Fareez put too much on the ball allowing Wardun to come off his line to collect the ball.

DPMM were awarded a penalty after Amirul fell Sergio inside the box in the 81st minute and the Portuguese forward completed the victory from 12 yards out.

Brunei DPMM FC coach Steve Kean: “We played really well in the second half and probably could have got 3-4 more goals. Considering the way we finished the first half, we are delighted with the way we completed the whole second half.”

Young Lions coach Patrick Hesse: “I said to the players that in the second half that I’m sure you can play better. I made a mistake as Brunei played better than us. But what is good is that game after game we have more opportunities to score.”

Brunei DPMM FC: Wardun Yussof (GK), Sairol Sahari, Azwan Salleh (Nur Ikhwan Othman 72’), Azwan Ali Rahman, Paulo Sergio, Maududi Kasmi (Shahrazen Said 50’), Rosmin Kamis (C), Helmi Zambin (Aminuddin Zakwan Tahir 50’), Rafael Ramazotti, Abdul Aziz Tamit, Yura Indera Putera

Garena Young Lions: Benjamin Bertrand (GK), Amirul Adli, Joshua Pereira, Ammirul Emmran, Fareez Farhan, Irfan Asyraf, Hami Syahin (Adam Swandi 64’), Shannon Stephen, Muhaimin Suhaimi (Hazim Faiz 72’), Firdaus Kasman (C), Md Rusyaidi Salime (Taufiq Muqminin 78’)