DISAPPOINTING START FOR CHAMP SRIWIJAYA

In spite of the heavy rain, more than 20,000 fans thronged the stadium to watch Persipura scoring first in the 36th minute off Ernest Jeremiah before Anoure Obiora found the equaliser for the home teams five minutes later.

After the break, Persipura went ahead again through Albeto Goncalves’ strike in the 52nd minute as striker Ngon A Djam headed in the equaliser for Sriwijaya ten minutes to the end for the final score line.

”Our mistake was that we gave too much space to Persipura. Our pressing was a little off but we improved in the second half even though we were playing under a lot of pressure,” said Rahmad Darmawan, the head coach for Sriwijaya FC.

”I am satisfied with the one point even though I felt that we could have won the game and collect all three points. It was a good performance considering that we were up against the defending champions,” added Raja Issa, the head coach for Persipura.

In the meantime in the other match of the day, Pelita Jaya were held to a 1-1 draw by Persiba Balikpapan at the Stadion Si Jalak Harupat in Bandung while Arema Malang romped to a 2-0 away win over Persita.