STRIKER Muhd Shafie Hj Muhd Efendy helped the 10-man national
Under-23 team edge the Royal Brunei Armed Forces Sports Council (MS
ABDB) 1-0 in their first match of the Six Corners Football Championship
last night after scoring before later getting sent off.
The
national Under-23 team were already without coach Kwon Oh-son, who is
currently in the United Kingdom to continue his programme in obtaining a
"P" coaching license, when they faced the army men at the Berakas
Sports Complex while some other key players were also out injured.
And
with Muhd Shafie sent to an early shower by referee Mohammad Hasrin Hj
Samat in the 70th minute after being booked twice, the Under-23 team
spent the remaining minutes defending their 1-0 lead.
The
Under-23 side are currently preparing for the upcoming 27th edition of
the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Myanmar in December and lost 1-0 to
the Indonesian national Under-23 team in a friendly at Yogyakarta two
weeks ago, with this week's all-local, six-team Six Corners Football
Championship serving as more preparation ahead of Myanmar.
"It
was a very good game, both teams played very well but we played better,"
noted caretaker coach Zainuddin Hj Kassim in an interview with The
Brunei Times after the match.
"We had a lot of chances in the
first-half but were very wasteful in front of the goal. In the
second-half, we played much better and scored early.
"There were
still so many areas the players need to improve on, and one of them is
their touches. They still need to polish that up," added the coach.
Despite
missing several key players such as centre-backs Afi Aminuddin and
Azwan Hamzah, who were still nursing injuries after the friendly game
against Indonesia, the national Under-23 side fared very well against
the organised MS ABDB team.
Muhd Shafie came close to scoring on a few occasions but was denied every turn by MS ABDB goalkeeper Mohd Tarmizi Hj Mat Johari.
Midfielder
Asri Hj Aspar and former MS ABDB player Mazazizi Mazlan also came close
to scoring late in the first-half, but both their attempts were
brilliantly saved by Mohd Tarmizi.
MS ABDB started the second
half strongly with striker Muhd Fadhli Hj Mohd Salleh testing goalkeeper
Ak Omar Nur Aqamaddin with a long-range shot, but the latter tipped the
ball over the bar.
Muhd Shafie finally broke the deadlock in the
58th minute when he scored from close range following a scramble inside
the penalty box.
MS ABDB replied immediately a minute later
with a swift counter attack when midfielder Mohd Budiman Hj Jumat set
Muhd Fadhli through inside the penalty box, but the striker would fire
his shot just wide.
Last night's other match saw Royal Brunei
Police Forces Sports Council (MS PDB) defeat the national Under-19 team
2-1 at the Balapan Track and Field of the Hassanal Bolkiah National
Sports Complex in Berakas.
The tournament continues tomorrow with
the Under-23 team taking on Indera Sports Club (SC) at the Balapan
Track and Field, while the Under-19 team go up against the Liang Lumut
Recreational Club Football Team (LLRC FT).
This tournament is the
first of its kind this year and its main purpose is to provide the
national Under-23 and Under-19 teams with match experience ahead of key
regional meets.
The Under-19 team will be competing at the Asean
Football Federation Under-19 Youth Championships in Indonesia next month
and October's Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-19 tournament in
Thailand.
The Brunei Times
