Garena Young Lions vs Brunei DPMM

(Saturday, 13 May, 7.30pm, Jalan Besar Stadium)

Written by: Shawn Lim

Garena Young Lions will be looking for their first win of the 2017 Great Eastern-Hyundai S.League when they take on Brunei DPMM at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Saturday night.

The developmental side find themselves in ninth spot after seven games played, while the Wasps are one place above with only one win to account for.

The Young Lions have however shown signs of improvement in recent games and came close to a point against Tampines Rovers the last time out, only to concede in the final minute of the game.

“Honestly, that defeat was tough to swallow because I felt we deserved a draw in that game,” said Young Lions captain Shahrin Saberin.

“But we lacked concentration in the final minutes which cost us the valuable point. So we need to learn to stay focus and make sure we keep our performance at a high level until the final whistle.”

According to Shahrin, learning from their mistakes and then applying it on the training ground has been one of the key reasons behind their resurgence.

“For sure we have improved and cut out our silly mistakes game by game because we watched our past matches and analysed our mistakes so as to not repeat it again,” explained Shahrin.

“The reason is simply due to the confidence we gain as a team after each match because even though we are a team full of youngsters, I believe we can still give the other teams in the league a run for their money.”

While Shahrin believes it is the perfect time to take on the struggling Wasps, he has cautioned his teammates not to be complacent and to be on their toes.

“Yes, they have only just won one match so far this year and for us, getting a win on Saturday night will surely boost our morale as a team,” said the 22-year-old.

“While we are still in search for that vital three points, we must still be aware that they also will not want to be the first team to lose against us.”

For DPMM head coach Steve Kean, the Scot feels that his team is currently severely lacking in confidence after their loss to Tampines in their last game and is hopeful that a win will change that.

“I thought we deserved at least a draw tonight, judging from the second-half display,” Kean said after the 1-0 loss to the Stags.

“In the first-half, we gave too much space to Tampines and they dictated the game. We sorted things out at half-time and we were tighter in the second-half and there was only team controlling the team and that was us.

“We just have to keep working. We’ve got good players but what we are lacking at the moment is confidence.”

Garena Young Lions – LLLLL

23/04/17 Tampines Rovers 1-0 Garena Young Lions

15/04/17 Garena Young Lions 0-2 Geylang International

08/04/17 Warriors FC 4-3 Garena Young Lions

02/04/17 Balestier Khalsa 1-0 Garena Young Lions

11/03/17 Hougang United 2-0 Garena Young Lions

Brunei DPMM – WLLLL

28/04/17 Brunei DPMM 0-1 Tampines Rovers

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

15/04/17 Brunei DPMM 3-5 Warriors FC

07/04/17 Balestier Khalsa 2-1 Brunei DPMM

02/04/17 Brunei DPMM 2-0 Hougang United

Head to Head (S.League)

26/09/16 Brunei DPMM 5-3 Garena Young Lions

19/06/16 Garena Young Lions 1-1 Brunei DPMM

08/04/16 Brunei DPMM 4-1 Garena Young Lions

22/09/15 Garena Young Lions 1-2 Brunei DPMM

23/08/15 Brunei DPMM 2-0 Garena Young Lions