PIP emerged as Champion

Playing in a very difficult condition

Both teams have shown a very good fight


The PIP tactician

AMV came third (Images by bruneidaily)

THE debut season of the Under-16 National League came to an end with Projek Ikan Pusu's (PIP) victory on Saturday and Football Federation of Brunei Darussalam (FFBD) have lauded its success.

"I'm happy to say that the U-14 and U-16 league went as planned except for a few hiccups," said FFBD secretariat, Johari Hj Bungsu.

The second round of the U-16 league had to be postponed due to school exams and the outbreak of Influenza A H1N1 in late 2009."Since the players of the U-16 league are students, we have no choice but to suspend the league for everyone's sake. Fortunately we were able to continue it in January," said Johari.

However Johari felt that the league have reached the objective that FFBD had set out since the very beginning."Our main objective was to expose youths to the high level experience that league matches bring. Throughout the season we have witnessed players step up their game, especially in the semi-finals and final," added the FFBD secretariat.

Despite the success, Johari acknowledges that there are things that can be improved by the participating teams."Before the next season starts, there are issues that can be worked on by the participating clubs on the managerial and coaching side. We hope that by next season the clubs will look for more seasoned coaches with credentials," said Johari.

When pressed to explain what he meant, Johari replied, "The clubs need to find a coach that not only teaches the practical aspect of football, but start from the very basics. Before the start of the season FFBD conducted a training clinic and some coaches didn't even attend it. The reason we held it is because we want the youths to be exposed to a systematic training which would only work towards their advantage," added Johari.

Another aspect that Johari hopes the team would fix is the absence of a goalkeeper coach.

"Having a good head coach isn't enough. There need to be two different coaches, one especially for the goalkeepers because that is a specific field," he said.

"Since this is a youth program, we need to show them the proper ways of conducting these things," concluded Johari.

The 12 teams who joined the U-16 league were divided into two groups. Muara Vella FC and Kuala Belait Department of Youth and Sports (JBS) Scheme topped Group A while Sports School and PIP conquered Group B.

The Group A teams were undone however in the semi-finals, setting the stage for an all Group B affair for the final at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium in Berakas on Saturday night.

The torrential downpour failed to dampen the spirits of the youngsters, doing their best to outdo one another on a puddle-riddled pitch.Playing second fiddle to group leader Sports School in the early stages of the league, PIP finally got their sweet revenge via 16-year-old Nelson Joseph Fitzgerald.

In what should have been a routine save for Sports School goalkeeper, Md Adri Abd Kahar, the slippery ball escaped from his clutches after Hadi Marzooqi Hj Omar's freekick.The lurking Fitzgerald pounced on the loose ball to blast from point blank to give PIP the winning goal in the 46th minute.

Fitzgerald acknowledged the win as a team effort after the victory but was adamant that they have always believed they could win it.

PIP took the B$1,500 top prize with skipper Muhd Puasa Sani bagging the "Best Player in the Final" award and goalkeeper Md Ahsanuddin Hj Md Dani earning the "Best Goalkeeper" honour.

Sports received B$1,000 while Muara Vella and Kuala Belait JBS Scheme each got B$500. (Source: The Brunei Times).