Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Persib v Persita 7-1
A hat trick by substitute Atep meant this wasn’t the best of
homecomings for Kenji Adachihara and Arcan Iurie as they returned to their old
stomping ground in Bandung.
Persita Tangerang were torn apart in the second half by a
rampant Persib Bandung who took advantage of slack defending and a one man
advantage to embarrass the visitors 7-1 in the team’s first group stage game of
the pre-season Inter Island Cup at Si Jalak Harupat Stadium in Soreang, West
Java.
Persib started the game giving debuts to Djibril Coulibaly
and Makan Konate but the spine of the team still boasted some familiar names
including I Made Wirawan between the sticks, Supardi, M Ridwan, Hariono and
Tony Sucipto providing an impressive looking wall at the back.
Persita had Cristian Carrasco up front partnered up front by
Japanese striker Adachihara who had moved from Bandung at the end of last
season and in the first 20 minutes or so the two combined well as Persita,
known as Laskar Benteng Viola, more than held their own against the home team.
Persib took the lead on 19 minutes when a 25 yard free kick
from Ahmad Jurfiyanto left keeper Denis Sapriyanto beaten.
The goal inspired Persib and minutes later they had a
second, scored by Coulibaly, chalked off by the ref for offside. However the
former Barito Putra marksman had better luck just minutes before half time and
this one counted.
Half time saw the bulk of the Persita support arrive and
they were welcomed with a goal by Adachihara after unselfish play by Carassco.
With numbers behind them on the terraces self believe started to flow through
their veins. They had been playing well enough to get something from this match
and the goal lifted them.
But not for long. FX Januar got his second yellow card for
getting entangled with Ferdinand Sinaga .
Down to 10 men, Persita collapsed.
Firman Utina fired in a free kick from about 25 yards to
make it 3-1 and this time Persita never looked like coming back. Their support
contented themselves with letting off flares, singing and dancing but on the
field the team imploded.
Konate made it 4-1 with a volley on 73 minutes and then it
became the Atep show.
The 28 year old winger was born and brought up in the Persib
heartland of West Java but it was with Persija Jakarta he made he made his
debut in 2004 and three years later he was making headlines as he netted a
brace for Indonesia against Laos in the ASEAN Cup held in Singapore.
As is so often the case he was unable to build on that early
promise and in 2008 he moved to Persib where he has been ever since, playing a
role but overlooked at international level by a succession of managers who have
opted for the more questionable talents of players like Oktavianus Maniani.
On as a substitute, Atep hit a 14 minute hat trick to leave
Persita looking as purple as the horizontal band on their white shirts.
In the second game of the day, Pelita Bandung Raya dominated
a dour Persijap Jepara but could only manage a 1-1 draw.
SOURCE - a version of this appears in today's Jakarta Globe
# posted by Me @ 8:20 AM 
