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Wednesday, April 01, 2026

 

The Yaksa Twins

Despite the rather pithy headline, as far as I'm aware, there is no relationship between Adhyaksa Banten or Garudayaksa - Jaksa in it's more common usage translates as Prosecutor. So, who are these two new teams that are leading the way in the Championship Group A and are scheduled to meet in a few days' time in a crucial top-of-the-table clash with only one guaranteed promotion place at stake?


Adhyaksa Banten


We'll start with Adhyaksa cos they come first alphabetically and as you look at a map of Indonesia left to right (west to east), you'd see them first! Oh, and my son was with their academy for a few months.

Only formed in 2020 as Farmel, Adhyaksa have had a stellar few years, winning Liga 3 Banten in 2023 and Liga 3 in 23/24.

Based in the Serpong/Tangerang Selatan area initially, now they stand on the verge of the top flight, they are playing their home games at the new Banten International Stadium in Serang, which they share with Dewa United, about an hour west of Tangerang.

With the Tangerang area already home to more established sides like Persita and Persikota, Adhyaksa have struggled to attract a fan base and with many attendances counted in the hundreds, home games at the 30,000 capacity ground won't have the best atmosphere.

Coached by the youthful Ade Suhendra, whose unremarkable playing career saw him line up for 14 different teams, Adhyaksa have built a squad rich in experience as they push for automatic promotion with Makan Konate perhaps the best known player. 

The Mali attacking midfielder has been in Indonesia since 2012 and has played for 10 different teams as well as a couple of stints in Malaysia. The elegant midfielder is probably best remembered for winning the league with Persib in 2014 and his goal-scoring exploits with Arema over a couple of years.

Another familiar name will be Dedi Hartono who, like coach Suhendra and Konate, has spells with Barito Putra on his resume. His career started well, winning the upstart Liga Primer Indonesia with Semen Padang in 2011/12 and earning a few caps for Indonesia before succumbing to the usual career path in Indonesian football of bouncing from club to club, island to island, time zone to time zone. Now 38, he is enjoying a fine autumn to his football like, captaining the league leaders possibly to promotion.

The biggest headache any team has is finding goal scorers. Sometimes you can go years trying out different players and having zero luck. Or, occasionally, one can fall in your lap. Portuguese striker Adilson Silva has certainly taken to life in Indonesia's second tier with Adhyaksa. In his first season with the club he has scored 22 goals in 21 games and you wonder whether he has just a single-year contract or he signed up for several seasons - in which case any future move could come with a transfer fee!

Garudayaksa


If you're a powerful chap, there are a number of ways you can get involved in football. In Indonesia for example, the son of a former president got involved with his local side. Moving to Malaysia, the son of a state king took over a team going nowhere, rebranded them, invested millions and they now dominate the game in the peninsula. 

Further north, in Thailand, an influential provincial political powerbroker bought the license of an existing club, moved them to his hometown, rebranded them and built them into the biggest club in the country.

In the examples of Malaysia (Johor Darul Ta'zim) and Thailand (Buriram United), money was invested in infrastructure as well as players and bred success keeping the locals happy with large crowds filling their new stadiums. In the case of Indonesia (Persis), there has been little to suggest the club has benefited from any largesse thrown their way as they struggle to fight against relegation from the Super League this season.

So, when the current president decided to go involved in football, which path did he choose? A very different path as he initially set up a football academy in 2023 in Bekasi. In 2025, he went for the more traditional route and bought the licence of PSKC Cimahi, moved them to Bekasi and rebranded them Garudayaksa. The current 2025/26 season is therefore their debut season.

Coached by M Ridwan, who doesn't seem to have a wiki page(!), Garudayaksa's star player is undoubtedly Andik Vermansyah. A nippy, pacy winger, Andik attracted rave reviews from his earliest days with Persebaya and had trials with teams in the US and Japan. When he did finally go abroad, it was to Malaysia and Selangor where he stayed four years. The other familiar name in their lineup would be Asep Berlian who spent six years with Madura United.

What to look for

In Adilson, Adhyaksa have the coach's dream striker. Then again, with only 16 goals conceded, Garudayaksa have the strong defence that coaches also desire. Two of those goals came in the 3-2 loss in Banten earlier in the season, while in the other meeting, the Bekasi-based side came out on top 2-0. With each side so far cancelling each other out in previous meetings, could the outcome be decided by something as banal as home advantage? Friday's game is being played at the Patriot Stadium in Bekasi. Is that alone enough to swing the game their way with the added bonus of three points, seeing them leapfrog their Yaksa rivals?



# posted by Me @ 5:12 PM
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