BALIKPAPAN (Interstat) — Balikpapan scored three times before halftime and defeated visiting PSBS Biak Numfor 3-1 at Stadion Batakan on Thursday in a football match that gave the home side its first win of the competition. Balikpapan set the pace early, built a commanding lead by the break and held off a late PSBS Biak Numfor response after both teams finished with 10 men. PSBS Biak Numfor could not recover from the early deficit, though it continued to play after the sending-off. The game was played at Stadion Batakan in Balikpapan.

Ryohei Yoshihama opened the scoring in the seventh minute. Ardi Ardiana doubled Balikpapan’s advantage in the 25th minute. Jay Amru added a third goal in the second minute of first-half stoppage time, giving Balikpapan a 3-0 lead at halftime. PSBS Biak Numfor trailed throughout the second half. The first half also included yellow cards for PSBS Biak Numfor’s Oktavian R. in the 24th minute and Balikpapan’s Amru in the 33rd minute. Balikpapan’s Takumu Nishihara was credited with an assist on one of the first-half goals.

PSBS Biak Numfor’s task grew harder in the 61st minute when Zidan K. was sent off. Balikpapan played with a man advantage for much of the second half, though Cesar B. was sent off for Balikpapan in the 89th minute. PSBS Biak Numfor’s Al Ghani N. was booked in the 76th minute. The red cards left both sides at 10 players for the closing stages, and PSBS Biak Numfor found a late consolation goal.

Alfan Tri had PSBS Biak Numfor’s key performance, playing 90 minutes and scoring once. His goal was PSBS Biak Numfor’s only score of the match. Ryohei Yoshihama played 78 minutes and scored once for Balikpapan. Ardi Ardiana played 77 minutes and scored once. Jay Amru played 90 minutes, scored once and received a yellow card. Takumu Nishihara played 90 minutes and recorded one assist.

Alfan Tri pulled one back for PSBS Biak Numfor in the first minute of second-half stoppage time. The goal came after Balikpapan had gone down to 10 men, but it did not change the result. PSBS Biak Numfor had substitutions involving Nabil F. and Alwansyah S. in the 67th minute. The double substitution was PSBS Biak Numfor’s first change of the match. PSBS Biak Numfor also had substitutions involving Oktavian R. in the 79th minute and Galih F. in the 90th minute.

Balikpapan had substitutions involving Hermawan A. and Ardiana A. in the 77th minute, Yoshihama R. in the 78th minute, and Nishihara T. and Amru J. in the fourth minute of stoppage time. The substitutions broke up the closing minutes as Balikpapan protected its lead and PSBS Biak Numfor searched for a second goal. Balikpapan’s changes came after it had built its lead, with further changes in stoppage time.

The result left PSBS Biak Numfor without a win in six competition matches and without a win in six matches across all competitions. Balikpapan has one win and four losses in the competition and one win and four losses across all competitions. PSBS Biak Numfor remained without a win after earlier losses to Barito Putera, Persipura Jayapura, Tornado Pekanbaru, RANS Nusantara and Persela Lamongan. The team lost 3-0 to Barito Putera, 6-1 to Persipura Jayapura, 6-0 to Tornado Pekanbaru, 5-1 to RANS Nusantara and 6-0 to Persela Lamongan. Balikpapan had previously lost 5-1 to Persipura Jayapura, 3-0 to Tornado Pekanbaru, 2-0 to Barito Putera and 2-0 to Deltras Sidoarjo.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Balikpapan 2, PSBS Biak Numfor 1. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Balikpapan with a 71.9 percent probability to win.