Persija finally recorded a victory against their nemesis but not for the first time a game between the two teams was marred by crowd trouble.
In 2007 during a Copa Indonesia semi final Persipura fans invaded the pitch through a single gate that was left open, ostensibly to escape from a tiny number of Persija fans who were attacking them.

I think it's so ironic how a team that is famous for giving nothing away at home gets upset when decisions don't go their way in away games. When a nailed on pen isn't given to their opponents. Yet when the same happens to them in an away game they spit the dummy. The word shame doesn't seem to exist.

The two top teams met last weekend as did two of the biggest teams and given the Javan centric nature of the country the focus was obviously on Persib and Persija. Played at the Jalak Harapat Stadium in front of 30,000 fanatic Bobotoh the hosts scraped through 1-0 thanks to a controversila first half pen by Miljan Radovic, his fifth goal of the season.

Handful of games played midweek in Indonesia. Persipura returned to the top of the table beating Persiram in an almost local derby while Sriwijaya dropped points at Persiwa where no team gets anything beyond fed up. Persiba, who also rarely drop points at home, won their second local derby on the spin, defeating Mitra Kukar 3-1 at their tiny Persiba Stadium.

This weekend Persija IPL will host Bontang in Solo. Next week Persija ISL will play two home games either in Solo or Sidoarjo. Neither club it seems can get a game in Jakarta.
Persija ISL are being forced away from their home town because the grass at the Bung Karno is being relaid, apparently, and the other options available, Lebak Bulus or Soemantri Brojonegoro are not real options; Lebak Bulus is supposed to being demolished some time soon while the other one is even smaller.

Indonesia Super League
Persiba v Persisam 3-2 (Kenji Adichihara, Aldo Baretto, Shohei Matsunanga; Jerry Karpeh 2) 4,032Gresik United v Mitra Kukar 1-2 (Warwan Mustafa; Erminano, Hamka Hamzah) 22,800
Busy day for the clubs from East Kalimantan. In the derby hosts Persiba needed a late goal from Matsunanga while on the road Mitra Kukar climbed to third place after their win in East Java; a fine riposte from Simon McMenemy's men after management claimed to be 'evaluating' the coach's position following their 3-1 defeat away to PSPS.

Indonesia Super League
Sriwijaya v Persiba 5-1 (Hilton Moreira, Keith Kayamba, Firman Utina, Siswanto, Ahmad Jufriyanto; Aldo Baretto) 21,875PSPS v Persija (Febriano, Bambang Pamungkas) 15,763PSMS v Persiwa 1-1 (Sasa Zecevic; Habel Satya) 10,553PSAP v Persipura 0-1 (Boas Solossa) 8,650
1 - Sriwijaya 8 6 1 1 21-7 192 - Persipura 7 5 1 1 15-10 163 - Persiwa 7 4 1 2 13-12 13
8 - Keith Kayamba, Hilton Moreira (Sriwijaya)6 - Herman Dzumafo (PSPS)5 - Safee Sali (Pelita Jaya), Alberto Goncalves (Persipura)
Divisi Utama (LI)
Persita v Persitara 1-0 (Hendra Bastion) 8,567Persih v PS Bengkulu 3-0 (Febi Martika Chandra 2, M Husen) 3,851Persekam v PSMP 2-1 (Rohman 2; Nur Rosid) 300PSBK Blitar v PS Sumbawa Barat 1-1 (Alfred Ballah; Saddam Husain) 8,000
Indonesia Premier League
Persema v Bontang 2-0 (Irfan Bachdim, Emile Mbamba)PSM v Semen Padang 1-1
1 - Semen Padang 6 3 3 0 10-3 122 - Persibo 5 3 1 1 10-4 103 - Persija 5 2 3 0 12-9 9

Nope, not ignoring it. Just not had the time recently to add tables etc. Persema are bottom of the 12 team league with just one point but yet to play a home game.
Tomorrow sees Persibo host Persiba Bantul, Persema v Bontang and Persiraja v Arema while on Sunday Persija host Persebaya...somewhere other than Jakarta!

Nope, not ignoring it. Just not had the time recently to add tables etc. Persema are bottom of the 12 team league with just one point but yet to play a home game.
Tomorrow sees Persibo host Persiba Bantul, Persema v Bontang and Persiraja v Arema while on Sunday Persija host Persebaya...somewhere other than Jakarta!

The Malaysian Football Association are worrying about the on going crisis in Indonesian football. Specifically they are concerned that they may not be able to call up their striker Safee Sali who plays for Pelita Jaya in the ISL.
FIFA only recognises the Indonesia Premier League and they have said that players who play in any non recognised leagues will not be eligible for national team call up.

Indonesia Super League
Sriwijaya v Persija 2-1 (Hilton Moreira 2; Pedro Javier) 20,000Persisam v Persiwa 2-0 (Christian Gonzales) 14,327
Indonesia Premier League
Persijap v Persema 1-1 (Julio Lopez; Reza)PSM v Persija (IPL) 1-1 (Spasojevic; De Porras)Arema v Persibo 2-0 (Gunawan Dwi Cahaya, Roman Chhmelo) 20,160
Confused by two Persijas in two different leagues?

Indonesia Super League
Gresik United v Persela 3-2 (James Koko Lommel 2, Gaston Castano; Rudi Widodo, Mario Costas) 20,000Persiba v Arema 2-1 (Kenji Adichihara, Rachmat Latif; Marcio Souza) 4,837Persiram v Persija 0-6 (Robertinho, Bambang Pamungkas, Ramdani Lestalahu, Johan Juanshyah, Ismed Sofyan, Rachmat Affandi) 600Sriwijaya v PSPS 2-1 (Keith Kayamba, Hilton Moreira; Herman Dzumafo) 15,234
Whoops!

Indonesia Super League
PSPS v Deltras 0-1 (M Fakhruddin) 5,675Persiwa v Persiba 2-0 (Eric Lewis Weeks, Eddie Foday Boakay) 3,150Persipura v Gresik United 3-1 (Alberto Goncalves, Boas Solossa, Pauline Bio; Gaston Castano) 6,000Persija v Persidafon 0-0 16,000
Persiwa go top of the nascent ISL after two wins in their opening two games.

Those who may have been caught off guard for the last several months, Indonesia boasts two leagues. One is official, one isn't. There are also two Persijas. One is official but they don't play in the official league while the other is just Jakarta FC trying to piggy back on name and brand recognition and failing to do so.

After years of concentrating on young players, a policy that led them to the Copa Indonesia semi finals in 2007 but no silverware, shades of Arsenal, Pelita Jaya ditched that policy when they surprised everyone by signing Malaysian striker Safee Sali who had topped scored at last year's ASEAN Cup, hosted by Indonesia.

If fans of Indonesian football have any awareness at all of Singapore football it is probably limited to Tampines Rovers. The team from the east coast of the city state have provided several internationals to clubs in Indonesia with varying degrees of success.

Khairul Amri is widely recognized as one of the most talented players of his generation and when he made the move to Persiba Balikpapan many hoped he would bring his prodigious talent to one Oil City.

Indonesia Premier League
PSMS v Persebaya 1-2Persiraja v Persija (!) 3-3
Other games were scheduled but never happened. Arema flew all the way to Papua to play Persipura...but last year's champions had already withdrawn from the league and were playing n the Inter Island Cup. Who the hell allowed them to fly when they had no opponent?

Australian midfielder Robbie Gaspar has signed for Persib Bandung. The Aussie is a bit of an elder statesman among the foreign footballer community in Indonesia having spent several years in the country.
His career began with Persita before heading to a lengthy spell with Persiba and last season with Persema.

Australian midfielder Robbie Gaspar has signed for Persib Bandung. The Aussie is a bit of an elder statesman among the foreign footballer community in Indonesia having spent several years in the country.
His career began with Persita before heading to a lengthy spell with Persiba and last season with Persema.

Remember the Indonesia Premier League that began a couple of weeks ago when Persib played Semen Padang? The league that was going to have 24 clubs? Well, the latest is that there will be 18 teams when it kicks off again, though don't ask when that might be. Them folks have yet to finish a league that they started.

The aging Hendro Kartiko has received a surprise recall to the Indonesian national team ahead of their World Cup Qualifiers. Kartiko, now with newly promoted Mitra Kukar, is one of four keepers named in the squad.
The others are I Made Wirawan (Persiba), Ferry Rotinsulu (Sriwijaya) and Samsidar (Semen Padang).

OK, this could get confusing. Remember there are two Persija's? One which is run by, umm, Persija and is recognised by the players and fans? The other is run by the guys who ran Jakarta FC in last season's Change The Game LPI.
Anyway the PSSI, now with former LPI guys in strategic positions, decided the latter Persija was the real Persija and approved them for membership in their league.

After years of failing to achieve success Persib have acted ruthlessly, culling much from last season's squad.
Out have gone Christian Gonzales, Hilton Moreira, Markus Horison, Nova Arianto, Isnan Ali, Siswanto and Rachmat Affandi among others.
In have come Nasuha, Tony Sucipto, M Ilham and Aliyudin; all from bitter rivals Persija.

There had been talk that this would finally be the year that iconic Indonesian striker Bambang Pamungkas would leave Persija. Instead a new club leader has convinced the international to stay another year and along with fellow long serving Ismed Sofyan will wear the orange of Persija in the upcoming season.

It is only the opening gambit in Indonesian football's latest new dawn but at a press conference earlier this evening the new look PSSI announced that top flight football would comprise of two divisions of 16 clubs each while the second tier would have four divisions of 12 teams each.
Indonesia can't seem to decide whether it wants to have a single top flight featuring the 18 best teams which makes sense from a purely footballing point of view or a twin division which would feature more dead wood than a lumberjack camp but allows clubs to spend less on travel costs as it would be divided regionally.

Cristian Lopes has signed for Sri Racha. Yeah, I know, a little late.
The Brazilian striker has spent a number of years in Indonesia, most latterly with Deltras. My abiding memory of him though comes from his Pelita Jaya days when he fell to the ground like he had been poleaxed right in front of the travelling Persija fans.

With Rahmad Darmawan signing a 2 year deal to coach the national Under 23s Persija are left looking for a coach. They have been quoted as saying they want a foreign coach as there is no local better than Darmawan.
Expectations are high at the Jakarta based club despite not having won a trophy for a decade and any new coach can expect the seat to be very bloody hot indeed.

A story in yesterday's Top Skor suggests Persipura are interested in signing Singaporean international Mustafic Fahruddin!
Farra has just returned to the SLeague after two seasons in Indonesia playing with Persija and Persela but the Indonesian champions seem to think they can entice the defensive midfielder with the prospect of AFC Cup football.

Ferry Rotinsulu (Sriwijaya)
Markus Harison (Persib)
Supardi (Sriwijaya)
Zulkifli (Arema)
M Nasuha (Persija)
M Roby (Persisam)
Ricardo Salampessy (Persisam)
Wahyu Wijiastanto
Ahmad Bustomi (Arema)
Toni Sucipto (Persija)
Eka Ramdani (Persib)
Firman Utina (Sriwijaya)
M Ridwan
Arif Suyono (Sriwijaya)
Oktovianus Maniani (Sriwijaya)
Christian Gonzales (Persib)
Bambang Pamungkas (Persija)
Boaz Solossa (Persipura)
M Ilham (Persija)

The Malaysia Super League has been closed to foreigners these last few seasons and while there are rumours doors will open again next year nothing has yet been confirmed.
In the past Malaysia was seen as an attractive destination for Australians, Singaporeans and Indonesians. Whether it will still be seen as attractive next year remains to be seen considering the rumours of match fixing and unpaid salaries that surround the game there.

It came as no real surprise to see Bontang relegated from the Indonesia Super League. They had been bottom so long it had become the norm. The 3-2 defeat against Persidafon in a feisty play off marred by nine yellow cards just confirmed the inevitable.
You can be sure though that many players will be happy to see the back of the team from East Kalimantan.

Bontang v Persiwa 3-3Persijap v Arema 2-3Persisam v Persipura 1-2Semen Padang v Persiba 2-1Deltras v PSPS 4-3Persela v Persija 0-0
There's a three way race on for second place now with Persija, Arema and Semen padang tied on 46 points, 10 adrift on newly crowned champions Persipura who would have been celebrating a third successive title had it not been for their Mandala Stadium being closed for renovations last season.

Yeap, it's still going on, hard though it is to believe. Why not many games in May? Who knows...
PSPS v Pelita Jaya 1-0 (Junaidi) 10,975Persiba v Persib 2-0 (Khairul Amri, Bahtiar) 4,873Sriwijaya v Persija 3-3 (Keith Kayamba, Budi Sudarsono 2; Bambang Pamungkas, Agu Casmir, Greg Nwokolo) 15,101Arema v Deltras 3-0 (Yongki Aribowo 2, Roman Chhmelo) 10,916Persela v Persipura 0-1 (Titus Bonai) 10,015
1 - Persipura 23 15 6 2 55-18 512 - Semen Padang 24 11 9 4 423 - Persija 23 12 5 5 45-25 414 - Arema 24 11 7 6 38-23 405 - Persisam 25 12 3 10 33-39 39
20 - Boaz Solossa (Persipura)16 - Edward Wilson Junior (Semen Padang)14 - Aldo Baretto (Persiba)12 - Bambang Pamungkas (Persija), Julio Lopez (Persisam)

SLeague
8 - Aleksander Duric (Tampines Rovers)7 - Frederic Mendy (Home United), Mislav Karoglan (SAFFC)6 - Shotaro Ihata (Albirex Niigata)5 - Maxime Belouet (Etoile), Joordan Webb (Hougang United), Fazrul Nawaz (SAFFC)
Malaysia Super League
11 - Norshahrul Idlan Talaha (Kelanatan)9 - Abdul Hadi Yahaya (Terengganu)6 - Badhri Radzi (Kelantan), Ahmad Rakli (Perak), Ashaari Samsuddin (Terengganu)
Malaysia Premier League
7 - Khairul Akhyar (PKNS), Norizam Salaman (Johor), Fitri Omar (MP Muar), Khairul Izuan (PDRM), Bobby Gonzales (Sarawak)
Thai Premier League
6 - Leandro (Army United), Ronnachai Rangsyio (BEC Tero)5 - Wasan Natasan (Chiang Rai United), Sarayut Chaikamdee (Bangkok Glass)
Thai Division One
6 - Rewat Meerean (Raj Pracha), Pichet In Bang (Suphanburi)5 - Justine Uche (BB CU), Anusak Laosangthai (Air Force United)
Indonesia Super League
20 - Boas Solossa (Persipura)15 - Edward Wilson Junior (Semen Padang)14 - Kenji Adichihara (Bontang)11 - Aldo Baretto (Persiba), Bambang Pamungkas (Persija), Julio Lopez (Persisam)
Divisi Utama
31 - Fortune Udo (Persiba)26 - Osas Marvellous (PSAP)18 - Patrick Wanggai (Persidafon)16 - Christian Carasco (Persita), Franco Hita (Mitra Kukar)
Liga Primer Indonesia
12 - Fernando Soler (Real Mataram)11 - Juan Manuel Cortez (Batavia Union)10 - Emmanuel de Porras (Jakarta)9 - Samsul Arief (Persibo)

Here's a thought. (Yep, I do have them once in a while.)
Given that four foreign teams enter the Singapore Cup every year why don't the organisers start to think that little bit bigger and start looking further afield for entrants?
The 2010 Cup featured Bangkok Glass, who won the Cup, South Melbourne, Phnom Penh Crown and Kitchee from Hong Kong.

Jakarta's football fraternity will be decamping to Solo, at least for the Easter weekend. Persija's home game against Persisam on Saturday has been switched to the Central Javan city at late notice because of some political gobfest.
Meanwhile Sunday sees Solo Ksatria host Jakarta in the Liga Prima Indonesia.

Indonesia Super League
Persib v Bontang 3-0 (Herman Abanda, Christian Gonzales, Hilton Moreira) 22,187Sriwijaya v Persisam 3-1 (Ponaryo Astaman, Jajang Mulyana, Arif Suyono; Julio Lopez) 5,143Arema v Persija 2-1 (Roman Chmelo, Sunarto; Bambang Pamungas) 32,597Persijap v Persela 0-2 (Gustavo Lopez, Jaenal Ichwan) 6,100
1 - Persipura 20 13 5 2 51-16 442 - Semen Padang 19 9 8 2 29-19 353 - Arema 20 9 7 4 31-18 344 - Persija 20 10 4 6 31-20 34
20 - Boaz Solossa (Persipura)11 - Edward Wilson Junior (Semen Padang), Kenji Adichihara (Bontang)10 - Marcio Souza (Deltras)
Divisi Utama
PSCS v PSIM 2-0 (Julia Siagian, Reza Dini Saputra) 9,725Persikab v Persik 2-1 (Jean kamaga, Ebus Angel Cnuchukwu; Berta Yuana Putra) 6,673Pro Titan v PS Bengkulu 2-3 (Mario Costas, Ghozali Siregar; Peter Lipide, Oh Inkyun, Imam Faisal) 303PSLS v Persih 0-0 Persipro v Barito Putra 3-0 (I Putu Gede, Akmad Junaidi 2) 2,875
Liga Primer Indonesia
Tangerang Wolves v Cendrawasih Papua 2-0 (Wallace da Silva 2)Bandung v Bintang Medan 2-2 (Kim San Duk, Beni Kunkun; Gaston Salasiwa, Paharuddin)PSM v Semarang United 2-0 (M Rahmat, Marwan)Batavia Union v Aceh United 2-0 (og, Tantan)Bogor Raya v Bali Devata 2-0 (Ivan Bogado, Maulana)Persema v Real Mataram 5-2 (Reza Mustafa 2, Han Sen Min, Kim Jeffrey Kurniawan, Irfan Bachdim; Fernando Soler 2)Solo v Manado United 7-3 (Zarko Lazetic 3, David Micevski 2, Stevan Racic, Ricky Kristiadi; Eugene Dadi, Jefry M, Tommy)Persibo v Medan Chiefs 5-1 (Samsul Arif 3, Bagus Cahyono 2; Abdelhadi Laakkad)Persebaya 1927 v Jakarta 3-2 (Andrew Barisic, Rendi Irwan, Nico Susanto)
1 - Persema 12 9 2 1 29-11 292 - Persebaya 12 8 3 1 31-9 273 -Semarang United 12 8 0 4 14-11
Thai Premier League
Army United v BEC Tero 1-0Sriracha v Chonburi 1-2Samut Songkram v Pattaya United 0-1Siam Navy v Muang Thong United 0-3Chiang Rai United v Police United 1-2TOT v Osotspa 0-0TTM v Bangkok Glass 0-1Buriram PEA v Thai Port 1-0Si Sa Ket v Khon Kaen 2-0
1 - Buriram PEA 8 6 2 0 202 - Chonburi 8 5 2 1 173 - BEC Tero 8 5 1 2 16
Malaysia Super League
Kelantan v Felda United 6-0Selangor v T Team 0-2Terengganu v Harimau Muda A 3-1KL v Pahang 0-0Johor FC v Negeri Sembilan 0-0Sabah v Perak 2-1
1 - Kelantan 10 6 2 2 24-10 202 - Selangor 10 6 2 2 14-10 203 - Perak 10 5 4 1 10-5 19

It could be the defining game of the 2010/2011 Indonesia Super League season.

Persipura have led the ISL since putting Pelita Jaya to the sword way back in September. They have been ruthless and relentless, steamrollering lesser teams and happy to snatch a point when against stronger opposition.

Good game. Very good game. Deserved a better crowd but then what do you expect on a work day and the way the traffic is these days in Jakarta.
First half was all Persipura. Zah Rahan and Manu Wanggai were sublime in the middle, the back three rarely troubled and I think the keeper returned to the dressing room half way through.

Indonesia Super League
Semen Padang v Persijap 3-0 (M Rizal, Saktiawan Sinaga, Edward Wilson Junior) 6,783
Divisi Utama
Persiba v Perseru 6-1 (Gonzalez, Busari 2, Sugiyanto 2, Slamet Nurcahyo) 9,245PSS v Persidafon 2-1 (Tri Handoko Putro, Anang Hadi Suputro; Lukas Rumkabu) 6,826
Semen Padang leap frog Persija into second place but have played two games more.