Chonburi 2-0 Navy - Match Report: 2015

TPL

Chonburi 2-0 Navy

Chonburi Stadium

Saturday 4th July, 2015

Attendance: 4,295

 

Match Report

by John Maguire

This was just my second experience of seeing a Chonburi football team, the first being against a university team of part timers (Pathum Thani Seeker in the League Cup). Chonburi won quite easily that day, even though they gave a chance to the people who don't usually play, like the manager, the ball boys and even the first aiders had a kickabout, at least Chonburi won...just.

 

I was looking forward to the Saturday evening 8:00pm kick off to see the “real” team in action. I went with my Thai mentor Brian, who introduced me to some genuine gentlemen and their wives; Dale and his Thai wife Nui, Pat and his wife Nang along with their gorgeous grand daughter and last but not least Tim. All really lovely people and we had a great chat and a couple of beers.

 

That's where the evening paused. We went into the stadium, my first time there and I was quite impressed with the good facilities. Kick off time approached, out came the teams and off we went.

 

Lo and behold, the manager, the ball boys and even the first aiders were still playing. Just two first team players left who really did stand out from everyone else. Dos Santos was head and shoulders above everybody and Adul played well in midfield. But the rest, I cannot comment on as I would probably be banned for life.

 

Substitutions followed and on came the assistant manager and the goal keeping coach. They weren't bad either, but I didn't see any “footballers” on the pitch that night, except the aforementioned Dos Santos and Adul.

 

This was a shame, as I was really looking forward to a great game. The Sharks played more like The Minnows. Terrible football from a team that didn't have a lot of ideas, no creativity at all and certainly no commitment.

 

Then the evening picked up again, the game ended! How Chonburi won 2-0 I have no idea, they certainly didn't deserve to have done, but, as I say, the evening got better...we had another beer outside.

 

I shall attend one more match, to give Chonburi the benefit of the doubt, (no one can play that badly again - about the level of a very junior team in England) but the company of everyone is worth the trip.

 

Bye for now.

JM