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11.8 vs. Persisko(2-2-0) This promises to be a sterner test of our skills. Persisko is new to Group D this year and is one of only three(Perssin and ourselves are the other two) to be unbeaten through four games. They've scored 10 and conceded just 3, and with the way we've been playing something will have to give. We are slightly less favored than usual at home, going off as 6-4 favorites with 5-4 the typically standard line against most clubs. We expect Ferminus back in a few days time but we'll have only Setia again for this one.
The 'expert' opinion is that not having Adie(who wouldn't be starting anyway) is going to be a problem and that Persisko will win on the road here. Their logic leaves something to be desired.
Persisko's black and yellow kits certainly stand out against the much lower-key uniforms most clubs field(our blue and white is typical).
6' -- A long wide freekick is sent in front of goal, Novandito is there but can't control it. It bounces around and Saputra gets his foot on first to poke it away, Patay with the clearance. One wrong bounce there and it's a score, so I can breathe a bit easier now.
7' -- Yellow card for Saragih. This is not going well. I tell him to be careful for the rest of the day.
16' -- They're dominating the ball and I switch to a more conservative counter-attacking style. If we aren't going to win possession anyway we might as well not give them extra chances.
17' -- Yogi to Ewangin, angled shot in the right side of the area maybe 12 yards out, it's an absolute rocket but just right of the post and into the netting. Maybe 20 seconds later Bayhaqi to Yogi who fires a little high from just outside the area. Took us some time, but we are fighting back some here.
28' -- Freekick by Sunarya just outside our area, well placed but not enough on it and Setia shows sure hands to make the save.
31' -- We're consistently fighting for possession a lot more, I go back to our usual balanced approach.
32' -- Yogi has a crack just inside the area, but is well off. Looked like he wasn't sure whether to pass or shoot there.
33' -- An impatient long blast by Yogi, with the expected non-results.
34' -- Yogi sets up Ewangin just inside the area, bit of a look and it's high. We're missing dubious chances, but they're getting none right now so I'll take it.
43' -- We win a series of midfield battles, Ewangin to Yogi but Pasanbu tips it wide. Needed a little more oomph on that one and it was a score, only about 15 yards out. No result on the corner.
45' -- They hit us with numbers on a counter and a perfect cross allows Maslan Manyira to quite literally walk it into the goal ... but he's called offside and it's disallowed! He was behind the defense, but still a scary moment there.
46' -- One final long blast by Ewangin is well high.
HT -- After the poor start we've done fairly well, up 8-2 shots and possession is even right now. Overall we've been a bit better but with only one of those shots on-target, the guys are starting to get understandably frustrated. I tell them the result will come if they keeping playing well, but I don't think I got through.
For the first time this year, we're in a fight.
46' -- It takes exactly 16 seconds for that goal and the result to come. The visitors never touched the ball. Saragih took it up the right, moved it in to Herlan, to Ewangin and with the attention on him a lead pass to Yogi found him alone in the area. He beats their keeper easily to the short side as his defender had come up to take Ewangin and nobody filled in for him. It's the kind of goal we often give up, and we take a 1-0 lead!
55' -- Some crazy action after a corner, Saragih gets a key header and then Kombo eventually takes it away from one of their wide attackers.
58' -- A long angled shot from Ewangin is wide.
69' -- A corner bounces off one of their defenders and only a quick reaction from Parsanbu to tip it over the bar prevents us from benefiting.
72' -- I send Sutanto on for Yogi, Ningmabin on for Yarangga, and go back to a countering style. I'll take preserving the win at this point and they've been getting the better of things too much for my liking the last 10-15 minutes.
On cue, they get it into the box for Hidayatullah, fortunately Patay is on him and able to prevent a good angle, blocking the ball out for a corner. It's a bad effort and Bayhaqi clears.
80' -- A long freekick by Ewangin, way over. A minute later, Ningmabin sets him up in the middle but he has to left-foot it and it's over the right corner. We keep after it and Herlan puts it up the right side for Sutanto, who centers for Bayhaqi excellent chance but he doesn't do enough with it and a diving save parries it away. That should have been an insurance goal.
91' -- They take it up the left side, and the cross finds Patay too wide and too far upfield. Labudda puts it in, just four yards out with nothing Setia can do! Disgustingly, we give up the equalizer in injury time ... anybody see this movie before??
FT -- A 1-1 draw, we should have won and I tell the team that. We outshot them 16-5, edged them in possession, and Bayhaqi's chance late should have made that end-of-game goal irrelevant. We left two points out there, no doubt about it.
Other than Yogi's goal, nobody particularly impressed. Bayhaqi's poor finishing throughout was a lowlight. Still, I'm very pleased that we allowed just five shots to a club averaging two and a half goals per outing. All in all, there's a lot of positives to take away.
Attendance was 239.
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