The beautiful game played out to some 1400 spectators present at the Jalan Besar Stadium was marred by some dramatic scenes on the touchline and DPMM saw head coach Vjeran Simunic as well as goalkeeping coach Haji Zainol Ariffin being sent to the stands for two separate incidents involving the fourth official.
Rodrigo Radhl drew first blood just before the hour after sneaking into the 18 yard area and earned the distinction of being the first player in the league to get a goal against Izham Tarmizi, who had gone 328 minutes without conceding in the league – an impressive feat for a young goalkeeper.
On the other end of the pitch, Wardun Yusof played a huge part in the equalizer by Gary Robbat nine minutes on when he allowed Robbat’s shot to slip past him and into goal.
In a game largely dominated by Harimau Muda, they poured forward in search of the winner to no avail after grabbing the equalizer. D Saarvindran, who was given a rare start, rocked the upright with a decent shot towards the end and Ahmad Hazwan Bakri missed the target after being played through by Wan Zack Haikal. The Malaysians even had a legitimate call for a penalty waved away by Abdul Malik when Gary Robbat was tripped inside the penalty area. DPMM had no answer to its opponent’s threat down the flanks and were made to defend in numbers for the last 15 minutes of the game.
Ong Kim Swee's boys sat down on the artificial turf of the Jalan Besar Stadium, with their heads sunk in disappointment after the final whistl, despite maintaining that unbeaten record in the Great Eastern Yeo’s S-League from the night’s 1-1 draw against fellow unbeaten side DPMM from Brunei.
Ong was clearly unhappy about how his counterpart tried making a meal out of the slightest issue but kept his cool and ensured that he did not suffer the same fate.
“I am very proud of my team. I am also very happy with the performance but not the result.”
“I expected this, and I told the players that there will be a lot of contact and aggressiveness and we have to control our heads. You look at the game, all 22 players on the pitch are playing a great game of football but the coach is provoking the players? Why is he provoking everyone on the pitch? We want to play a fair and entertaining game.”
“If we lose to a better strategy on the pitch and we lose the game as a result of tat, I am okay with it because it can only show that my strategy is not right.”
“I am teaching a group of players under the age of 23 to play good and fair football, but the seniors are not showing good example and it is not good for the league” Ong told members of the media.
Simunic was more than happy with the point earned, and said that he has no issues at all with his Malaysian counterpart. He apologized after the game at the press conference.
“Sorry if I’ve offended anybody. I am cold now” Simunic said
“I just felt the need to push my team and I respect Harimau Muda very much. They play good football”
“When I see brutal fouls, I react to certain decisions, and maybe that’s my fault. But I do not have any issues with the Malaysian coach.”
Posted 5 days ago by Singapore Football
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