MUANG THONG UTD 0-0 CHONBURI (agg 2-3)
18th September, 2011
After a 3-2 home win in the 1st leg a month earlier, The Sharks travelled to the Thunderdome (aka The Yamaha) knowing that a draw would be good enough to see them through to the semi finals. After the match, regular contributor to the old site, Tim Banks, posted comments on the now defunct Muang Thong Utd Blogspot. You can read what he had to say below, along with Ben's report from the Muang Thong Utd F.C. Replay site:
WONDERFUL DISPLAY OF SPORTSMANSHIP BY MTU FANS
by Tim Banks
From a dedicated Chonburi fan who attended tonight's Thai League Cup 1/4 final second leg at the Yamaha. Forget the result and just congratulate the MTU fans on their tremendous sportsmanship.
Pipop was knocked out cold in the first half and as he very slowly regained his senses after a long and worrying delay (which ended with a trip to hospital) all he could hear was his name being chanted. By the Sharks faithful? you ask. No by those MTU fans massed immediately behind the Impact Arena end goal, close to his penalty area collison. The responsive applause for that act of consideration rang out from the Chonburi faithful on the side terraces at the other end of the stadium.
Throughout the match and especially at the end, the rival fans were always quick to chant the opposition team's name and those of individual players. It was a privilege to be at the Yamaha tonight, where the two sets of fans certainly displayed all that is best in Thai soccer.
The overall experience was quite something to witness both in and around the stadium. Well done, MTU and especially so, as the final result just went against your team in the end but in no way did that deter or diminish the ovation that was given to the visiting Chonburi team. Your sportsmanship will be remembered by me for a long time.
MUANG THONG UTD 0-0 CHONBURI (agg 2-3)
by Ben
Muangthong United were knocked out of the 2011 Thai League Cup on Sunday night, due in a large part to a handful of missed chances and a few excruciatingly close saves from the Chonburi F.C. keeper. Kawin kept a clean sheet with some masterful stops of his own.
But don’t misunderstand me; this game was completely about Chonburi’s disgusting and embarrassing display of time wasting aided by some terrible calls by the referees.
I would be confident that no straight 10 minutes of football were able to be played in this game without play needing to be stopped for a collapsed Chonburi player. Exploiting contact, embellishing fouls, complaining to the referee while refusing to stand up, and abject diving were employed by the Sharks ad absurdum in order to break up Muangthong’s momentum.
It must be said, however, that goals were certainly there for MTU’s taking. Poor finishing plagued the Qilins, and sloppy passing turned over numerous balls. But in this case they don’t only have themselves to blame for the result.
The bitter taste of defeat is coupled with the reassuring fact that the Red & Black gave their all for 100+ minutes in the face of baffling calls and dastardly tactics and came up just short.
On the other hand, after this match I would be ashamed to call myself a Chonburi fan.
I guess now I’m in the awkward position of being a Muangthong fan having to cheer on Buriram PEA in the semi-finals. I can live with that, especially after tonight.
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