Persija Jakarta

Diwa United have thrown the Indonesian title race wide open.

The Benton Warriors came from behind to defeat league leaders Persija Jakarta 2-1, closing the gap between the clubs to a single point after eight games.

Persija could hardly have asked for a better beginning.

Rehan Hanan opened the scoring in the fourth minute, converting from close range after Persija immediately placed the home side under pressure.

What was that like for a new group to get away for a week and gel on the field as well as off the field?

Yeah, it had [laughs] Indonesia had its challenges, but one more so from, um, the opponent that we played, Persija, is just another level.

Which, uh, opened my eyes to the days when, when I was playing and, and if we said we're gonna play a game against Indonesia, we would've thought, "Do we really have to play?" You know, because the level was such a difference.

But the level is right up there, and the players they had were, the foreigners are, are unbelievable.

Um, right up till about the 50th minute where after that it was, like, still early on in the, in the preseason.

You're playing against a team that's ready to play, to start the league, and we're, we're very far off it at the time.

So it was a, it was a great challenge, great to be with our sister club, Persija.

Yeah.