TPL
Samut Songkhram 0-1 Chonburi
Samut Songkhram Central Sports Stadium
Sunday 10th May, 2009
Match Report
A well deserved victory and much more comfortable than the scoreline suggests. After a scrappy opening five minutes, Chonburi settled down and started to play some good stuff. Their passing and movement was fantastic and our defence - Nattapong, Kiatprawut, Suttinan & Suree - looked secure.
We had three decent opportunities - the first, an Arthit free kick that rattled the bar, was followed by a shot from Kone, which the keeper got down low to his right to save, and a point blank header from Kiatprawut also saved (somehow!!) by the goalie.
For the second half the home team changed their tactics in order to break up Chonburi's rhythm. Lots of time wasting and feigning injury etc. They even employed the services of a local witch doctor to summon up a big black cloud in the hope of getting the match abandoned. However, after a brief consultation with the two coaches, captains and a FAT representative, the last fifteen minutes were played out in the gloom and the rain.
A free kick from Arthit (who else) won the points with 5 minutes remaining. Maybe the keeper failed to see the ball in the darkness but, when you play at a stadium that has no floodlights, that is the price you pay.
The heavy storm that immediately followed the match couldn't dampen the spirits of the 1200 - 1500 impeccably behaved visiting fans. Even the hour long wait for the buses to come and pick us up didn't seem to matter. A good three points and a great day day out.
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