TNP League Cup: DPMM blast four in second half
Kean describes side as 'a second-half team'; Ramazotti comes good
GROUP A
BRUNEI DPMM 4
(Paulo Sergio 62, Adi Said 72, Rafael Ramazotti 78, 91)
WARRIORS FC 0
He had just seen his team kick off The New Paper League Cup campaign with a thumping 4-0 win over Warriors FC.
But Brunei DPMM coach Steve Kean wasn't exactly jumping for joy after the match.
The former Blackburn Rovers manager's was unhappy with his team's poor first-half performance.
The S.League champions only came to life in the second half, with all four of their goals coming after the break.
Said Kean: "It's not only tonight. When we played Ceres (la Salle) in the Singapore Cup two weeks ago, it was the same. We seem to be a second-half team.
"Tonight, it took us 43 minutes before we made more than five consecutive passes."
Kean put his team's slow starts down to the lack of vocal characters in the side following the departures of Croatian defender Boris Raspudic and Irish midfielder Joe Gamble, who were cut loose before the start of the season because of S.League rules reducing the number of foreigners in each outfit from five to three.
MORE CHANCES
DPMM did create more chances than the Warriors in the first half, but lacked the cutting edge up front.
The closest they came to scoring was when Maududi Kasmi's volley from 25 metres sailed narrowly over Yazid Yasin's crossbar.
Veteran goalkeeper Yazid picked up a groin injury late in the first half and was replaced by Zainol Gulam at the break.
The rookie goalkeeper made a great point-blank save off Adi Said just nine minutes after coming on, but it all went downhill after that.
Rafael Ramazotti, last year's top scorer who has looked off-colour so far this season, set up goals for Paulo Sergio (62nd minute) and Adi (68th).
The Brazlian striker then got into the act himself, finishing off two fine crosses whipped in from the flanks by Adi in the 78th and 91st minutes.
Warriors coach Razif Onn admitted his side could not cope with DPMM's tactical switch in the second half.
The veteran coach, who was missing seven players either through injury, suspension or national call-ups, said: "In the first half, we managed to close down Ramazotti and keep him quiet.
"But in the second half, they stopped playing the long ball to him and started delivering the ball fast on the ground... and we conceded three goals in 15 minutes.
"When players are fatigued, there will be lapses."
- TNP Man of the Match: Adi Said (DPMM)
- DPMM: Wardun Yussoff, Rosmin Kamis (Hendra Azam 81), Yura Indera Putra, Brian McLean, Helmi Zambin, Maududi Kasmi, Azwan Saleh, Najib Tarif, Adi Said, Rafael Ramazotti, Paulo Sergio
- WARRIORS: Yazid Yasin (Zainol Gulam 46), Hafsyar Farkhan, Syaqir Sulaiman, Kento Fukuda, Ismail Yunos, Poh Yi Feng, Emmeric Ong, Hafiz Rahim (Andy Ahmad 79), Nikola Rak, Ridhuan Muhammad (Fazli Jaffar 85), Marijan Suto
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