FA Cup Chonburi 4-1 Samut Songkhram - Match Report: 2010

FA Cup 

4th Round 

Chonburi 4-1 Samut Songkhram

IPE Stadium

Attendance: 2,661

Wednesday 25th August, 2010

Match Report 

Picking up from where they left off on Sunday, Chonburi tore into Samut Songkhram from the start. Playing a full strength eleven, as I had hoped, the team took a grip on the game virtually from the kick off and rarely let go. The visitors caused one or two problems for the back four during the course of the ninety minutes but, in the main, the defence looked solid throughout and Sinthaweechai had a reasonably quiet evening.

Therdsak's early goal, from a well struck free kick, set the tone and it really was a question of, "How many?" However, to their credit, the Raging Mackerel had a go but they were simply outclassed. The Chonburi midfield dominated with Therdsak spraying the ball around with his usual style and accuracy. Adul was as industrious as ever and Ekkaphan and Phanuwat worked tirelessly, as they covered every blade of grass on the pitch. Up front Pipob ran and chased and harried and battled and scored a deserved goal for his efforts.

Only Baga looked out of sorts, and not for the first time this year. This is becoming quite worrying but not as worrying as the stick he is getting from certain sections of the crowd. In all the years I've been following the club I can only really remember this type of thing happening once before, when a few people were on Zico's back last season. Chonburi fans are usually very supportive of anyone in a blue striped shirt but some of the abuse the lad was getting last night was quite frankly disgusting. And, at times, racist. This has to be nipped in the bud.

Otherwise, from a purely footballing point of view, it was a satisfying night's work - apart from Puritat's red card thirty seconds after he came on as a substitute - and a clear sign that the club is taking this competition seriously. We are now in the last eight with a real chance of going further and are building up a headful of steam as we enter the final few furlongs. A nice home draw in the next round would be very welcome, as a league and cup double is still a realistic possibility.