Assyabaab scores key win in league quarters

Assyabaab scores key win in league quarters

JAKARTA (JP): Assyabaab SGS Surabaya found it had made the
right decision in dropping its plan to boycott the Indonesian
League quarterfinals, scoring a crucial 2-1 victory over Medan
Jaya in their Group B match yesterday.

The win, earned by Assyabaab during an error-ridden game, gave
the Indonesian soccer enthusiasts who filled the Senayan stadium
a sort of consolation after they watched all the previous three
opening matches end in uninspired draws.

In the other Group B match yesterday, amateur champion Persib
Bandung, despite superb attacking football, scraped to a
disappointing goalless draw against Petrokimia Putra. No teams
wrapped up their Group A openers on Wednesday with a win.

Assyabaab, which badly needed a victory to revamp its
reputation following a suspension imposed on Gunung Ginting last
week, wasted no time in building up an all-out assault on Abdi
Kusno's goal post in the early minutes.

Rusdi Bahalwan's men did not wait too long to reap the rewards
of their unceasing trials when veteran libero Jaya Hartono
snatched a cross from Suteja, blasting a short-range volley past
a stranded Abdi in the 12th minute.

Assyabaab players threatened to pull out of the competition on
Tuesday in protest against Ginting's suspension for an indefinite
period.

Former national player Abdul Rachman Gurning orchestrated
Medan Jaya's fight-back. It was clear that the North Sumatra
side, powered by import players Cinca Marius, Jijie Claudio and
Makukula Kunayanga, took over the initiative in the rest of the
first half.

The non-stop efforts paid off when Azwardin Lubis scored the
equalizer for Medan in the 35th, also from short-range. Unguarded
Azwardin headed home the ball bounced off goalkeeper Kuswo during
a scramble.

Both sides failed to display well-knit teamwork in the second
half. Instead, they missed a number of scoring chances and relied
heavily on sliding tackles for ball possession.

Disappointing

Pelita Jaya foreign stars Roger Milla and Maboang Kessack and
their fellows from Petrokimia Jackson Tiago, Derryl Sinnerine and
Carlos de Melo, joined the 40,000 crowd who looked disappointed
with the error-ridden soccer.

As if to add insult to injury, referee Zulkifli Chaniago was
the constant target of the public jeers for making contradictory
decisions to his linesmen.

Captain Putut Wijanarko gained victory for Assyabaab 11
minutes from time when he slotted a curled cross from left winger
Sutamto.

"It feels great to beat a team which fielded foreign players.
We managed to win despite the fact that we bank totally on local
players," coach Rusdi Bahalwan said.

Persib players clearly received most of the cheers from the
crowd, but they failed to find the top form which allowed them to
hold Pelita Jaya in their final Western Division match on
Saturday.

Persib's fast-running striker Sutiono made a run up the left
side and surprised Petrokimia's goalie Darryl Sinnerine with a
shot that forced him to dive for the save at his left post.

Persib had another chance midway to the second half when Yusuf
Bachtiar beat Petrokimia's defenders, but his attempt from 20
meters was controlled by Sinnerine.