Indera Sports Club (SC) defeated Royal Brunei Armed Forces Sports Council (MS ABDB) 1-0 in the opener of the Six Corners Football Championship last night, with the DST Super League champions starting strongly in the first-half but failing to find a way past the army's solid defence.

Indera centre-back Reduan Hj Petara's goal in 78th minute separated both teams at the Balapan Track and Field of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex in Berakas, where MS ABDB relied on their wingers on both flanks to supply the ball into the penalty area a threat that the Indera defenders, led by centre-back Reduan, did well to put out.

"It was great game," said Indera's coach Hj Omar Hj Jamil in an interview with The Brunei Times after the match.

"We found it very hard to penetrate MS ABDB's defence tonight but we waited patiently and scored late in the game.

"It was a pretty good result considering we just started training and we have only played two friendly matches over the past weeks," he added.

Indera came close to scoring on several occasion in the first 15 minutes of the second-half, with striker Hamizan Abdul Aziz Sulaiman spearing the attack.

The striker had an effort brilliantly saved by MS ABDB goalkeeper Mohd Suhandy Hj Mahali in the 58th minute before Mohd Iqmal Hakeem Abdul Hamid fired his shot just inches wide from outside the penalty box a minute later.

MS ABDB replied a few minutes later when Budiman Hj Jumat sent Muhd Fadhli Hj Salleh through inside the penalty box, but the striker would fire a weak attempt straight to the goalkeeper.

Indera finally broke the deadlock when Reduan rose above everyone to head home Mohd Abu Bakar Mahari's cross from the left 12 minutes from time.

The night's other match at the Berakas Sports Complex saw Royal Brunei Police Forces Sports Council (MS PDB) fall to a 4-0 defeat to Liang Lumut Recreational Club Football Team (LLRC FT).

Six teams, Indera Sports Club, MS ABDB, MS PDB, LLRC FT and the national Under-19 and Under-23 teams, are featuring at the August 26 to September 1 tournament.

Joining the Under-23 team in Group A are Indera and MS ABDB, while Group B consists of the Under-19 team, MS PDB and LLRC FT.

The Under-23 side are currently preparing for the upcoming 27th edition of the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Myanmar in December and were edged 1-0 by the Indonesian national Under-23 team in a recent friendly at Yogyakarta.

The Under-19 team, meanwhile, will be competing at the Asean Football Federation Under-19 Youth Championships in Indonesia next month and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-19 tournament in Thailand in October.

The tournament continues tomorrow with the Under-23 side taking on MS ABDB at the Berakas Sports Complex while the Under-19 side will be up against MS PDB at the Balapan Track and Field.

Both matches are expected to start at 8.15pm.

This tournament is the first of its kind this year and the main purpose of it is to provide the national Under-23 and Under-19 teams a number of competitive friendly matches as they prepare for their respective tournaments.

Courtesy from Brunei Times