| Fadhil Yunus |
DPMM FC announced their intent of winning the Singapore League Cup after cruising to a 5-1 victory over Tampines Rovers FC in their Group ‘B’ encounter at the Jurong West Stadium in Singapore last night.
The three-time League Cup winners produced easily their finest performance of the season in the win and subsequently in the process snapped an eight-game winless drought.
The Gegar Gegar men put aside their current league form and showed signs of revival which echoed head coach Steve Kean’s sentiments that they could indeed turn their season around by performing well in the cup competition.
The visitors created the first meaningful chance of the game as Shahrazen Said’s cross was only cleared to the path of Azwan Ali whose shot was parried by Tampines back-up goalkeeper Joey Sim.
However, DPMM FC did not have to wait long to open the scoring as a minute later Adi Said steered home Maududi Hilmi Kasmi’s cross.
Kean has earlier indicated that the absence of Daud Gazale and Rafael would enable players such as the trio to grab their chance to make a positive impact.
DPMM FC’s Azwan Ali skips Tampines Rovers FC players during a Group ‘B’ game in the Singapore League Cup. – S LEAGUE
Adi spurned a chance to add a second after he contrived to fire wide with only the goalkeeper to beat.
A loose ball off a Tampines corner fell to Danish Uwais, who was promoted to the first team from the Prime League squad, but the midfielder’s shot was well wide.
DPMM FC doubled their lead after Maududi fired home an Azwan Ali’s corner in the 31st minute.
The rampant visitors showed no signs of slowing down in attack as Maududi poked wide after getting onto Adi’s cross.
The Gegar Gegar men extended their lead after Azwan Ali latched onto an Adi pass before firing a left-footed finish past a hapless Sim four minutes before the break.
Shahrazen Said joined in the act to make it 4-0 to DPMM FC after connecting to a Maududi’s cross in the 48th minute.
With DPMM FC creating the majority of chances in the game, Azwan Ali went through on goal but fired just wide of Sim’s right hand post.
The hosts pulled one back in the 67th minute after Jamil Ali took down a long ball before hitting a volley which flew past goalkeeper Mu’izzuddin Ismail.
Maududi Hilmi Kasmi scored their fifth of the night after guiding the ball onto goal with Azwan Ali’s corner only half-cleared.
Kean made good changes to conserve some energy for their next game against Balestier Khalsa by withdrawing Nurikhwan Othman, Azwan Ali and Maududi Hilmi Kasmi in the final 10 minutes of play.
Meanwhile in the other group match, Geylang International FC defeated Balestier Khalsa 2-0 with goals coming from Amy Recha and Ricardo Sendra.
DPMM FC will entertain Balestier Khalsa next at their adopted Jalan Besar Stadium on July 11 knowing victory will put them in the hat for the knock-out stage.
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