1. The Muang Thong
United Fan - Matt Riley
I was impressed with both teams. The Chonburi defence looked very strong and their goalie was very secure. I felt that Muang Thong started to push Chonburi into more defensive positions as the game wore on, but a draw seemed a fair result. The counter attacking stance that Chonburi took could, and probably should, have resulted in a winner for them with two very good chances in the second half.
I was impressed with the quality of refereeing, but very disappointed by the trouble at the beginning of the second half, especially as my 9 year old was on the pitch at the time. It spooked me for the rest of the game and we ended up watching the end of the match on the big screen outside the ground.
2. The Muang Thong United Player - Mika Chunuonsee
I felt that a draw was a fair result but I’m not sure if either team would have taken that beforehand. I feel that both teams would play the match again if they had the chance. We now have 3 games left and everything is in our own hands. Our remaining fixtures are all against teams in the top six so it won’t be easy. Chonburi also have three games left but still may not win the league even if they win all three so it’s all down to us.
As for the game itself, both teams played well but I believe that we maybe had more chances to win all three points. I also think that later on in the match, Chonburi did look more like scoring on the counter attack so it was pretty even overall. However I felt that we looked less dangerous when Pitchipong went off and this was the key factor why Chonburi were on top in the later stages.
3. The Muang Thong Blogger - Greg
Perhaps it was inevitable that a match so hyped didn't quite live up to its promise. Build up outside the ground was little different to usual. One anomaly was the obvious presence of fans who didn't support either team but just wanted to come to the big game. The strong police and security presence and the massive Chonburi support also stood out but all those groups were friendly.
After the Royal anthem (also a first at the Thunderdome) was played, the game got off to a quick start as Chonburi scored inside five minutes. Jetsakorn scored for the sharks courtesy of some poor defending by Muangthong.
A game of end to end football slowly transformed into more pressure from Muangthong, who were rewarded when Teerasil scored a minute from half time.
At half time a bizarre incident occurred. A sudden roar went up from the Chonburi end and I'm sure I saw a bottle being thrown onto the pitch. Journalists, police, guards and others scrambled to that end, which incited both sets of supporters. The incident died down quickly yet, inexplicably, the second half kick off was delayed by twenty minutes.
The game fizzled out into a scrappy and slow affair as both sides seemed happy to accept the draw. I found this very disappointing.
With honors even, the Thai Premier League championship will be decided by the final three games of each side. I will be at the away game against TTM Samut Sakhorn to track Muangthong United in the run-in.
4. The Chonburi Player – Michael Byrne
I thought that we started very well and showed real determination. We set our stall out right from the start, not only with our attacking play but with our strong tackling. We had a couple of good chances early on and got our reward when we scored with the header at the far post.
I don’t know if it was a case of us stepping off the gas or us scoring that gave Muang Thong a kick up the backside but after the goal they started to dominate and create chances. Nothing really clean cut but they were beginning to look dangerous. We did have a few good counter attacks when I feel we could have done better but the end product didn’t match the build-up.
Muang Thong equalised just before half time. A great through ball was followed by a cross into the penalty area and finished off with a great touch, turn and clinical strike by Teerasil. A quality goal at whichever level you play.
The second half was a bit of a tentative affair with neither team wanting to give anything away and both not committing too many men forward. The only chances that were created came from set pieces; I thought Muang Thong looked dangerous evertime they had a free kick or corner. On reflection the draw was a good result because the pressure is still on them more than it is on us.
They are still leading but, take it from me, we will make sure that they’ll be looking right over their shoulders because we will be pushing them all the way. Finally, it was great to see the Chonburi fans turn out in such large numbers and remain in great voice as per usual.
5. The Youth Coach – Bruce Campbell
First of all I’d just like to say it was great to see such a big crowd for a Thai League game! But I have major concerns about crowd control! Clearly the authorities should have made better preparations. I thought the police presence was at times provocative. And the halftime problem could've been sorted a lot faster.
I think that the stadium is great - I hate the multi-purpose stadiums with running tracks - except for the long stand past the goal line for away fans! I can't understand that! I'm sure that many spectators had a partial view of the game. I was lucky enough to be right behind the Chonburi bench.
As for the game itself, I was disappointed. I thought the top two teams would've produced more quality.
The ref was OK but didn't let game flow. Too many fouls were called when he could easily have played on. Chonburi looked very stale to me. The players were too slow getting to the 50-50 balls. A lot of the first eleven have played too many games over the last 6 months. There doesn’t seem to have been enough rotation despite having some good, experienced players in the squad. And I'm surprised they were satisfied with a point considering they are a point behind and there are only three games to go!
I do think Chonburi has the more difficult schedule, they face two of the teams fighting to stay up. I’m afraid that Muang Thong’s opponents will be taking it easy in the league and saving themselves for FA Cup.
6. The Neutral Armchair Fan - Paul Hewitt
As I support a lower league Thai club side (Nakorn Ratchasima FC), I only watch TPL games on TV, and I've never looked forward to one as much as this. I found myself hurrying home from work just so I could get back in time for the build up!
The 30 minute segment before kick-off showed the 2009 season 'story so far' for each team; a feature about the expansion of the Thunderdome Stadium and live shots from in and around the ground. Rather worryingly, the new floodlight on the roof of the new main stand was still being wired just minutes before kick-off!
The sight of full stands full-to-bursting in the sunshine was stunning: Is this really the Thai Premier League? Whatever happened to Honda v Farmers' Bank watched by a few dozen?
The match itself started at breakneck speed and it wasn't a surprise when Chonburi took the lead. I expected a pitch party but the thousands of Chonburi fans stayed in the stands - perhaps because of the unnecessary presence of police dogs on the touchline. Muang Thong rallied well and should have scored twice (Leesaw and Ya-Ya both guilty of wasting the most golden of golden opportunities) before Teerasil stuck away a great left foot effort.
1-1 at half time then and the huge crowd semed to be behaving and enjoying themselves. However, as the commentator was giving a summary of the first half, the camera seemed to pick up on something going on in the Chonburi section.
A few fans seemed to be irate and were shouting and arguing with police and other officials. These arguments were becoming more antagonistic until a few bottles were thrown towards the police, and one policeman, to his utter shame, appeared to get into a one-on-one confrontation with a fan and had to be dragged away by his colleagues.
The commentator speculated that people were getting angry because of the lack of room in the packed stands but the cameras showed that most people in the Chonburi section still seemed happy enough. By now the start of the second half was being delayed and it was all rather inexplicable. No bottles were now being thrown and all the fans were in the stands and not on the pitch.
And yet a group of officials continued to have a meeting on the touchline in front of the players' tunnel thus delaying the start of the second half. By now even the commentator was saying "Nothing's happening, we don't know what's happening".
The second half eventually started some twenty minutes after the bottle throwing incident. The second period was pretty low key and played at a slower pace than the first. Leesaw wasted another close range header, this time putting it straight into Sinthaveechai's hands from five yards. The match predictably finished 1-1. A good result for Muang Thong, an OK one for Chonburi but a great one for the police and other officials who must have been dreading some on-field controversy as when Muang Thong played Samut Songkhram a couple of weeks ago.
The police did seem to handle things incorrectly judging from what we armchair fans were shown. Having police dogs out before there has been any trouble only foments expectation that there will be trouble. And getting into fistfights with fans is just ridiculous. Maybe I shouldn't be too critical though. This is all new to Thai police; it took British police decades to learn how to deal with football fans.
The post-match coverage was a lot shorter than the pre-match, presumably because of the half time delay. Both goals were shown again as were a couple of half chances for Muang Thong but Siam Sport TV spared their players' blushes by not showing the Leesaw and Ya-Ya misses!
On the whole, it appeared to be a great occasion. A four-sided football-only stadium packed to the rafters with over 16,000 Thai football fans watching...Thai football! The big match threatened to live up to the hype in the first half but never quite got there; partly because both teams were terrified of losing, partly because the FAT appointed the worst referee in the TPL to officiate the match.
Roll on next weekend - this title race is still too close to call.
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