Brunei Down To 5th Slot In Malaysian Premier
By Dannie Abu Basrah

Bandar Seri Begawan - Brunei slipped from top spot to fifth position in Group A of the 2005 Malaysian Premier League in the second week of the competition when they went down 3-1 on home ground to the much experienced and well-organised Selangor MK Land.

Expectations were high for the Wasps supporters that night after the Wasps came into the match after a surprising 5-1 away win over Pulau Pinang NTFA in their season opener.

Meanwhile in other matches, Selangor moved to the top of the table after they thrashed visitors Kelantan TNB 6-1 at the Shah Alam Stadium.

Selangor’s position was secured by Brian Fuentes who scored his second hat-trick of the season on the 7th, 25th and 53rd making him the leading scorer at the moment with six goals.

The other three goals were scored by Indonesian star player Bambang Pamungkas (28th), Mohd Khalid Jamlus (35th) and Haris Safwan (85th) as Armi Sharif scored the only Kelantan TNB goal on the 61st minute.

Kuala Lumpur were also big winners of the week as they joined Selangor at the top of the table as a result of their 5-2 home win over league newcomers Pulau Pinang NTFA that was played at the Kuala Lumpur Football Stadium.

The home side had a three-goal lead with goals from S Sunder (12th), Mohd Safee Sali (49d') and K Kumaran (50th) before Pulau Pinang reduced the deficit with two goals through R Manivarnam (52nd) and Samuel David (56th)

Just as NTFA were pushing for the equaliser, Kuala Lumpur killed off the match with strikes from Carlos Quinones (66th) and Mohd Safee Sali (78th).

As for the state side clash between Kedah and Melaka, it was the boys in green and yellow that emerged victorious as they hammered Melaka 4-0 at the Darul Aman Stadium in Alor Setar.

During an interview with the Brunei head coach, Amir Alagic at their training ground last Tuesday, when asked about the defeat, he commented that it was a tough game for the home side especially given the fact that they lacked the time to prepare for the competition.

The team was only called up two weeks before the season by BAFA, a really frustrating situation for football in the country where at least two months is needed for the head coach to get the team ready.

Another problem for the Wasps is that they are currently short of players where according to Amir Alagic, there are only 14 players registered to his knowledge so far for his team which is not helped with the suspension of import player Oluseye Ajayi and experienced player Ak Sallehuddin for the next match against Melaka.

But at the moment, the coach is considering a few more new players that was recently called up for the squad, a few from ABDB and one from Penjara.

Other problems within the team is that, other registered players by BAFA that is not included in Amir's 14 selection would not be available for the up-coming games, especially a few of the young players which have not turned up for training because of their involvement in the March Under-21 Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy tournament.

Amir Alagic is still searching for two more import players to fill in the midfield and defensive role. One likely candidate to come into the frame is DPMM FC stopper, Florin Olimpiou Socaciu, but unfortunately at the moment he is in Romania on personal matters.

The coach also said that "imports are really important to a team because they can change the outcome of a game" and one evident case is the game against MK Land as the goals were scored by both their forward import players Miroslav Toth and Marion Alex James.

Other plus points about the presence of an import player is that they are likely to influence local players to perform better both in training sessions and matches itself.

When asked about the supporters during the game at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium, the coach was delighted and thankful those who turned up.

He also urged the supporters to be patient because of the issues within the team and hope they understand that it will take time to progress throughout the season as his final statement was that, "if there is ever a better time that support is needed from the supporters, then this is the time". -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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