| Fadhil Yunus |
COMBINE KSKA faced the danger of elimination in Group ‘E’ of the Al Idrus Football League Championship after they were handed an emphatic 5-1 defeat by Bakes Veteran at the Balapan Track and Field of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex recently.
The veteran team are still in the running to seal one of the automatic places but a loss put second-placed PBDB Veteran FT in pole position for progression into the next round.
Combine KSKA are three points adrift of the Belait-based side and a scenario where they draw level in points with PBDB, the team who they play next, might not be enough as they are required to overturn a huge goal swing.
The heavy defeat to Bakes Veteran saw their goal differential plummet to a worrying -10 and nothing less than a high-scoring win will do for Combine KSKA.
With their result in focus, the team who needed the points got off to a nightmare start as Zulkifli bin Tusin opened the scoring for Bakes Veteran in the ninth minute.
Abdul Bahrin bin Haji Masri cleverly turned off the defender but his shot ended off the mark after benefitting from good work from Roslan bin Haji Omar.
Returning to terrorise the KSKA defence, Roslan made a barnstorming run down the flanks and beat his marker before teeing up Fariszal bin Ali who tapped home from close range.
Abdul Bahrin beat the offside trap before coolly slotting the ball past the hapless goalkeeper to make it 3-0 in the 35th minute.
Amdillah bin Zainuddin missed a gilt-edged opportunity in quick succession to get into the score-sheet with only the goalkeeper in his sights.
Combine KSKA pulled one back as Halimas bin Haji Muhammad curled a stunning effort in the 58th minute and they nearly added a second after Zulazami bin Haji Abu Bakar rattled against the crossbar.
However, their hopes of staging a comeback faded after Amdillah made amends with a cool finish after being set up by Haji Mohammad Ali bin Haji Tajuddin in the 77th minute.
Pengiran Md Shahrom bin Pengiran Haji Ismail added the gloss to the win with his side’s fifth goal of the game seven minutes from time.
While PBDB are firm favourites to join already-qualified RB Veteran from the group, it is still mathematically realistic for Combine KSKA to qualify if they pull off a miracle.