retired_manpk1

The opening month of the season ended with a trip to Persita and, although he looked a little jaded from his trip back from Africa, Fodé Camara was given the nod again, relegating Chena back to the bench.

The home side started the day leading the table, but they didn’t look like title challengers as we set about starting to rain chances onto their goal. Camara and Pamungkas both missed chances, before we finally took a deserved lead on the half hour when Muhammad Iqbal got the final touch after a melee in the box. It was the first goal for the left-winger since his summer move.

The home side were really disappointing, and we really should and could have wrapped up victory before Bambang Pamungkas’ effort 18 minutes into the second half. 2-0 was very comfortable, the defence did their job late on, and we are starting to look like the title challengers that I expected us to be.

retired_manpk1

SUMMARY – January 2007

PSMS 1 (Mahyadi Panggabean pen 52)
Persija 1 (Fodé Camara 37)
Attendance: 10092

Persija 2 (Bambang Pamungkas 40, 83)
Deltras 0
Attendance: 15478

PSM 2 (Bruno Herrera 26, Christian Gonzales 78)
Persija 0
Attendance: 17963

Persija 2 (Nova Zaenal 84, Gustavo Roberto Chena 90)
Pupuk Kaltim 0
Attendance: 16092

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag G.D. Pts1st Persita 5 4 0 1 13 5 +8 122nd Pupuk Kaltim 5 4 0 1 13 5 +8 123rd Persebaya 5 3 2 0 12 4 +8 114th Persija 5 3 1 1 7 3 +4 105th Arema 5 3 1 1 9 6 +3 106th PSM 5 2 3 0 9 6 +3 97th PSPS 5 2 2 1 4 3 +1 88th Persijatim 5 2 1 2 5 4 +1 79th Petrokimia Putra 5 2 1 2 8 9 -1 710th PSMS 5 2 1 2 5 6 -1 711th Semen Padang 5 2 1 2 6 9 -3 712th PSIS 5 1 2 2 9 14 -5 513th Persib 5 1 1 3 7 10 -3 414th Persipura 5 1 1 3 3 8 -5 415th Deltras 5 0 3 2 2 5 -3 316th PSS 5 1 0 4 4 8 -4 317th Persik 5 1 0 4 5 12 -7 318th Persikota 5 0 2 3 5 9 -4 2 </pre>

retired_manpk1

February began with a home tie against struggling PSS, and although we play only three days after the previous game, it’s an unchanged lineup.

To say it was easy would be somewhat of an understatement. We missed numerous chances in the first twenty minutes, before neat play from Iqbal set up Bambang Pamungkas to get us onto the scoresheet. A similar move fifteen minutes later resulted in a second, and we were cruising at half time.

We weren’t quite as dominant in the second period, but a third goal came out of the blue as Trevor Duaramuri fired in from outside the box midway through the second period. And six minutes from time Fodé Camara added a fourth to condemn the visitors to another defeat.

retired_curlleigh

Great story, mate. Well done.

My uncle brought me back two shirst from Malaysia about 5-6 years ago. SABAH home & away.
Interesting how Brazilians get everywhere!

KUTGW :thup:

retired_manpk1

Agreed. It is a little strange, but if they help to win the league, who cares? :cool: Glad you're enjoying the tale :thup:

Six players started for Indonesia in midweek as they ran out 3-0 winners over Chinese Taipei, and thankfully all escaped unscathed for our trip to Semen Padang. Bambang Pamungkas opened the scoring to make it 13 goals in 15 caps, and Harry Saputra grabbed the third.

Once again we could have scored inside the opening seconds, but we were uncharacteristically sloppy at the back, and fell behind after just five minutes. We weren’t used to being behind, and so it was with much relief when Affan Lubis equalised on twenty minutes with a wonderfully taken free kick. That gave us a spark to get forward, but as the half wore on, Semen Padang got back into the game and had their chances to retake the lead.

Both sides were in no mood to give up victory, and the second half saw further chances for both sides. A goal came twenty minutes from time, and it was Fodé Camara who got it. But we then seemed to fall apart at the back, and were lucky not to concede until Alex Daniel Cabrera hit a wonderful long-range strike with just six minutes remaining.

We’re not a side for giving up though, and with time ticking away, Muhammad Iqbal saw a shot squirm in under the goalkeeper to steal all three points for us.

retired_manpk1

Ahead of the home tie with PSIS, we suffered a double injury blow. Bambang Pamungkas strained his knee ligaments, and minutes later Imran Nahumarary strained his groin. Both went in for surgery during the week, and have been replaced in the side by Gustavo Roberto Chena and Ellie Aiboy respectively.

We were clearly missing the presence of Pamungkas as we wasted chances during the first half, and Chena was clearly struggling on only his second start of the season. PSIS looked dangerous on the break as well, but neither side could score in a goalless first half.

Chances were squandered early in the second half as well, and the failure to score was starting to get to the fans, as well as the players. On came Nova Zaenal, and within minutes of coming on, he finally put away a chance to give us the lead. PSIS were still a threat though, and we had to survive a number of close calls as the lead remained intact. And in injury time Nova Zaenal put away another effort to give us all three points and take us to the top of the table for the first time this season.

retired_manpk1

Another injury struck during the week; this time it was Trevor Duaramuri who strained his groin, and is unlikely to be fit for nearly a month. We were away at Arema next, and I decided to push Iqbal into the middle, with Nasuha coming in on the left wing.

It was a difficult match for both sides, and we were again up against a well-organised side. Even being the away side, opposition teams seem to go on the defensive, and that puts the onus on us getting forward. We don’t really seem to mind that, but it was frustrating to still go into the break at 0-0.

We kept plugging away in the second half, and on the hour a mix-up in the box allowed us to finally bundle the ball home; Fodé Camara getting the final touch to give us the lead. Arema did cause us the odd problem on the break, but in truth we were never really troubled by them, and the 1-0 win could have been a lot better.

retired_manpk1

Three days later we were at home to a struggling Persik side, and despite a few players looking a little jaded, it’s an unchanged line-up once more. Nasuha keeps his place on the wing after a fantastic first start during the week.

Persik made it difficult for us early on, and they had a few free kicks that caused us a few nervous moments. We weren’t playing particularly well either, but on the half hour we were handed a penalty, and Fodé Camara made no mistake from the spot.

Ten minutes into the second half we were given a second penalty in what was a needless challenge, but Camara failed to take advantage, sending his effort well past the far post. That gave the visitors hope, but on the whole we dealt with their efforts well. Indeed, we hit the crossbar twice in the last ten minutes or so as we tried to extend our lead, but it wasn’t to be.

Still, a 1-0 win still gave us 3 points, and maximum points in February sees me named as the Manager of the Month. Let’s hope that the curse doesn’t strike as we go into March.

retired_manpk1

SUMMARY – February 2007

Persija 4 (Bambang Pamungkas 21, 37, Trevor Duaramuri 66, Fodé Camara 84)
PSS 0
Attendance: 15489

Semen Padang 2 (Kusdiyanto 5, Alex Daniel Cabrera 84)
Persija 3 (Affan Lubis 19, Fodé Camara 70, Muhammad Iqbal 90)
Attendance: 17028

Persija 2 (Nova Zaenal 72, 90)
PSIS 0
Attendance: 15470

Arema 0
Persija 1 (Fodé Camara 59)
Attendance: 19974

Persija 1 (Fodé Camara pen 28, m/pen 55)
Persik 0
Attendance: 15456

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag G.D. Pts1st Persija 10 8 1 1 18 5 +13 252nd Persita 10 6 1 3 25 17 +8 193rd Persebaya 10 5 3 2 19 11 +8 184th PSM 10 4 5 1 16 10 +6 175th PSMS 10 5 2 3 15 10 +5 176th Petrokimia Putra 10 5 1 4 20 14 +6 167th Semen Padang 10 5 1 4 18 16 +2 168th Pupuk Kaltim 10 5 1 4 17 15 +2 169th Persijatim 10 4 1 5 12 12 0 1310th Arema 10 4 1 5 14 19 -5 1311th PSPS 10 3 3 4 9 10 -1 1212th Persib 10 3 3 4 16 21 -5 1213th PSS 10 4 0 6 10 15 -5 1214th PSIS 10 3 3 4 14 20 -6 1215th Persipura 10 2 4 4 9 14 -5 1016th Persik 10 3 1 6 13 20 -7 1017th Persikota 10 2 3 5 14 13 +1 918th Deltras 10 0 4 6 6 23 -17 4 </pre>

retired_manpk1

March began with a home tie with PSPS, and despite our injured players making good progress, none of them were fit enough to make the matchday squad, and it was an unchanged line-up.

We started brightly, and created a few chances early on, but our shape was severely disrupted when Muhammad Iqbal had to come off with a groin strain after just thirteen minutes of play. We seemed to lose our way in midfield for about 15 minutes, but PSPS didn’t look up to anything either, and we soon got back into our stride. We weren’t at our best; far from it, but Affan Lubis’ free kick five minutes before half time got us into half time ahead.

We didn’t look particularly sharp up front, and as the second half wore on, PSPS caused a few problems on the break. Eight minutes from time though we could have wrapped up the tie as Nova Zaenal was bundled over in the box, but the substitute sent his penalty over the bar.

The victory came about in the end, but the cost was the loss of both Muhammad Iqbal and Affan Lubis for a fortnight; the former with a groin strain and the latter with a damaged foot.