| Fadhil Yunus |
PSJD emerged plate winners in the Bintulu nine-a-side Football Championship 2018 after seeing Mypham S25 snatch victory against Perdanaku in the final recently in Sarawak.
The Brunei-based outfit began their campaign with a loss to BNG Miri before bouncing back with a thumping 6-0 win over CVU FC.
Having met them in previous editions, PSJD once again fell to a 3-1 defeat to Mypham before returning home with a consolation of a plate made possible with a 2-0 win over Jepak United.
Moving on from their Bintulu exploits, tough test lies ahead for PSJD head coach Nordin Tujoh but he remains committed on his team’s charge to the semi-finals of the FA Miri Cup.
“It (the FA Cup) is our main priority after the Bintulu tournament and for me the route in the tournament is not easy because the four teams that advanced to the knock-out stage are fine opponents,” said Nordin in an interview with the media recently.
PSJD will be playing against Xbes, another Brunei team, while nemesis Perdanaku and Landas will compete in the other semi-final after the Eid festivities.
With a Brunei team guaranteed a place in the final, Nordin exercised caution to his charges on the strength of his compatriots.
“Xbes is not an easy team to beat as they are lined up by experienced players and if you ask me who will progress to the final all four teams have an equal chance. Furthermore, the team who work hard and have lesser mistakes will reach the final,” said Nordin.
The head coach was reluctant to share his thoughts on the two Malaysian teams which are considered as their bogey teams but said that they must be defeated subsequently exacting redemption from their defeats in the Coneli Veteran League earlier this year.
“What is assured in the final is it will be represented by Brunei and Malaysia teams and we will continue to work hard to win the FA Miri Cup this season.”
“For this purpose, I call the players to stand ready and do their very best in the final and we must also make sure that we are 100 per cent ready to fight,” he asserted.