Saturday, April 19, 2014
Persijap v Persija 0-2
Persija kept their unbeaten start to the season, defeating Persijap 2-0 at Bumi Kartini Stadium last night.
There may be no such thing as a straight forward win in football but this was as probably as comfortable
as it gets against a Persijap side still missing their coach, Raja Isa.
 |
| Persijap giving a better performance than their team |
Persija had lost on their last two visits to Jepara but there was little danger of making it three consecutive
losses in front of a crowd given as 3,068 (I have my doubts - in fact a local paper said there were approximately 4,000 home fans plus a traveling support of some 1,500 which sounds a better number).
Agung Supriyanto gave the visitor the lead on 36 minutes and Ramdani Lesalahu made the points safe
early in the second half.
This was the second time I had seen Persijap this campaign, the other against Pelita Bandung Raya in
the Inter Island Cup, and while they showed a slight improvement on that game when they drew 1-1,
they remain a side lacking in real quality.
Persija defended solidly and on the odd occasion when the hosts were able to get a good cross in,
Andritany Ardhiyasa showed why he is so highly rated with a good command of his area.
It is difficult to see where Persijap go next. They are two points clear of Persik at the bottom of the table
with just one win and one draw from their opening eight games and have conceded more goals, 16, than
any other Indonesia Super League team.
There are obviously problems at the football club and despite the good support they fans gave them
some surgery needs to happen if they are to retain their place among Indonesia’s elite.
In the other ISL game, Persik lost 2-1 at home to Semen Padang to remain rooted at the bottom of the
table.
The Cement men though moved to second, equal on points with leaders Persib despite having played
one game more.
Esteban scored twice for the visitors, the second just five minutes from the end. Dimas Galih Gumilang
did pull one back on 90 minutes to set up an exciting climax but it was too little, too late and most of
the 7,565 crowd went home disappointed.
# posted by Me @ 11:11 AM 
