Steven Danis
Football Tribe Indonesia
The heat of the competition is already increasing after the break ended as we enter Week 18. The Padjajaran Derby between PS TIRA-Persikabo against Persib Bandung ended in a draw, but there were bad stories repeated again and again, giving a negative image for Indonesian football.
On the field last Saturday, both clubs played with a fierce spirit as the host in the Pakansari stadium, Bogor, need to close the gap between them and Bali United as the league leader. They took the lead in the 14th minute as Achmad Jufriyanto was caught doing a handball in a penalty box attempting to deal with a low cross from the right side sent by Ciro Alves.
Osas Saha, the Nigerian-born naturalized-striker, successfully conquered I Made Wirawan and slotted the ball through Maung Bandung’s net. Three minutes later Laskar Padjajran also got another chance from Wawan Febriyanto’s free-kick that missed the net.
After 20 minutes full of defending, Persib looked hard for an equalizer without their main striker, Ezechiel N’Douassel. Five last minutes before the first half ended, Persib’s luck’s improved as Omid Nazari’s free kick in 41st minutes managed to hit the bar. Four minutes later Nick Kuipers’ header, assisted by Dedi Kusnandar’s long free-kick, finally gave them the equalizer.
In the second half, both of them did not slow down the tempo and continued to threaten each other, but the score did not change until the full time whistle. But the joy for both sides as the points were shared soon became a terror, especially for the away team after the game ended.
There was chaos between two supporters during the game and after the match that comes from the south side of the tribune, and the away team was stuck for one hour before they can leave the stadium. Unluckily for them, as they nearly left Bogor through the highway, their bus hit by stones by supporters that broke the window and injured two players; Philippines midfielder Omid Nazari and Febri Hariyadi. Persib’s management have already sent a protest letter to PSSI as the federation, the league operator and the host of last Saturday game.