2012年10月24日星期三

S-League title race down to the wire

Football: S-League title race down to the wire

When referee Yazeen Buhari stopped proceedings at the Hougang Stadium on Wednesday night, the DPMM players shot their arms in the air and danced off the pitch as if they had won the championship, dousing their coach Vjeran Simunic in iced water as he addressed the media.

By beating Hougang United 3-1 on Wednesday night, DPMM ensured the two-horse Great Eastern-Yeo's S-League title race will go down the wire.

The win saw the Bruneians climb to second on 48 points, just one behind league leaders Tampines Rovers, with one game remaining.

DPMM will face Balestier Khalsa on Nov 2 in Brunei Darussalam, but Tampines can seal their second straight title if they beat Malaysia's Harimau Muda at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

But in Simunic's eyes, his players have already won. He said: "In my view, we are already team of the year ... (this result means) we are placed in front of expensively assembled teams like Home United and SAFFC, and good teams like Balestier Khalsa. Our first target was to challenge these teams, and now we are very proud to challenge Tampines who are title holders."

Jordan Webb's 10th-minute strike gave Hougang the lead, but a show-stopping free-kick from Azwan Salleh after 24 minutes drew DPMM level, before Patrick Da Silva (51st) and Ampuan Nurul Azami (60th) ensured all three points for the visitors.

"I don't think the team will need a coach when we play Balestier, there will be 30,000 people (at the stadium) who can win with all our players," said Simunic.

"If Harimau Muda play (against Tampines) as they can play, with all their best players, they can beat any team."

~News courtesy of Today~

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