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.