ABDB Beat Police For Soccer Gold

Saturday, 15 September 2012 08:44

Jake Ten

The jubilant MS ABDB celebrating their victory

Bandar Seri Begawan - MS ABDB emerged as the champions of the football event in the Brunei Darussalam National Games 2012 after beating MS PDB 3-2 in extra time at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium.

APO 6438 Khalid bin Mustapa opened the scoring in the 17th minute after connecting with a cutback inside the box from his teammate to give MS PDB the upper-hand.

MS ABDB would eventually draw level after admittedly having the better share of possession and chances, with 16315 SLD Budiman bin Jumat tapping home a corner with seven minutes of the second half played.

The goal turned the tides in MS ABDB's favour, and they used the momentum to their advantage, pulling one ahead after Budiman bin Jumat grabbed his second of the game in the 58th minute from a free-kick, curling the ball round the wall which had the MS PDB keeper beaten all hands down.

Despite their strong performance, MS ABDB almost undid their good work, handing MS PDB an opportunity to snatch victory from under their feet when- 965 LT Amzar Mu'az bin Tamit headed into the back of his own net, just one minute from the final whistle.

However, men in yellow showed great resolve, chasing every ball and closing down opposition players throughout the 30 minutes of extra time, and they would be rightfully rewarded to prevent the match from heading into a penalty shootout.

Cometh the time, cometh the man 18762 Sld (U) Mohd Isa bin Hj Bahar saved his team's blushes when he slid in for the winner in the 112th minute, and despite there still being eight minutes left to play, they celebrated as if the referee had just blown the final whistle.

Their lead would remain intact, and the players dropped to their knees as the referee blew for full time.
Elsewhere, in the earlier kick-off, Brunei-Muara ousted Belait 3-2 in the 3rd and 4th place play-off match to claim bronze.

Present as the guest-of-honour to present the medals to the winning teams was Dato Paduka Hj Mohd Hamid Hj Mohd Jaafar, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports.
--Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin