TPL
Songkhla Utd 1-1 Chonburi
Songkhla Municipal Stadium
Attendance: 10,686
Saturday 25th May, 2013
Match Report
TEN THINGS WE LOOKED OUT FOR IN TODAY'S MATCH
1. The Number Of Ex Chonburi Players On The Pitch
Songkhla United have nine ex Chonburi players in their current squad. Keep your eyes peeled for how many you can spot today.
Disappointingly, I only spotted two: Jeera Jareonsuk and Darko Rakocevic. I must admit I don't really understand the loan system or the "clause in the contract" that states a player can't play against his former club. I'm assuming here that it was one of those two reasons why the other seven didn't feature. Shame because it would have added a much needed extra frisson to the proceedings.
2. The Crowd
Last season (as Wuachon Utd) our hosts claimed to get a crowd of 30,102 for the visit of Muang Thong Utd. However, as their other sixteen home games only attracted a combined total of 85,878, it’s unlikely there’ll be such a big turnout today.
The official attendance was given as 10,686. While this is a long, long way short of the 30,000+ mentioned above, it's still a healthy turnout and is to be applauded.
3. The Songkhla Utd Bench
With former Chonburi coach Jadet Meelarp (the man who lead us to the TPL title in 2007) and goalkeeping coach Franz Schwarzwaelder (the man who helped him) on the home bench, it will be interesting to see their reactions if their team should score and how motivated they are to get one over on their former employers.
I saw both Jadet and Franz on the bench and in the Technical Area, and they both looked fully focused on their team's performance - as you would expect. However, Jadet was wearing a blue t-shirt (nice touch), which he had to cover up with a green vest so as not to be mistaken for a Chonburi player.
4. The Thiago Cunha and Irfan Bachdim Partnership
After a long lay off through injury, Irfan Bachdim (pictured) returned for the last league game against Chainat and impressed with a very good performance. He also seemed to strike up an uncanny understanding with Thiago Cunha. If both players are included in the starting line up today, it will be interesting to see how this promising partnership develops.
Sadly, Thiago was suspended and didn't feature (poor reseaerch on original article - Ed). However, Irfan had a good game. He scored a lovely goal and contributed quite a lot to the overall team performance. I guess we'll have to wait until Wednesday to see how the partnership develops from here.
5. The Referee
Our last two away games have both been blighted by absolutely rotten refereeing decisions; the disallowed goal against Suphanburi and the laughable penalty awarded against Jackie up in Chainat. I wonder what we can expect from the Man in the Middle today?
I hardly noticed him so he must have done alright. Only two (non) decisions stand out. Midway through the first half, Irfan was brought down on the edge of the box. It looked like a nailed on free kick - or even penalty - but the ref waved play on. Later in the game, he also booked the same player for deliberate handball and then failed to do the same shortly afterwards, when a home player committed the same offence.
6. The Away Following
It’s a holiday weekend and it’s possible to fly down to Songkhla from Bangkok in just over an hour so, we might have a decent following. Credit to all those who made the effort.
I saw a few photos on the internet of Chonbri fans outside the ground before the game. Unfortunately, our friends at NBT didn't show any close ups of visiting fans during the game. It did go awfully quiet when we equalised, so there can't have been that many there.
7. My Tweets
I’ll be Tweeting live updates throughout the match on our official Twitter account.
Warning: Tweets may include some effing and jeffing and references to old Punk bands
As promised, I Tweeted regular updates throughout the match and replied to as many questions as I could. Aside from concentrating on the match, I was also eating my tea and drinking bottles of Chang at the same time. Who says men can't multi task?
8. The Rotten Coverage On NBT
Ad breaks every time the ball goes out of play (and sometimes while it’s still in play); delayed coverage (possibly); rotten camera work (certainly) and no pre match build up (laughably) are just some of the reasons why my heart sank when I learnt that NBT would be covering our match today.
There were twelve ad breaks in total and they also arrived about a minute late for the start of the second half. One particular incident stands out. At one point, Sinthaweechai was receiving treatment on a genuine hand injury and the broadcaster decided to stay with it and show footage from inside the stadium. There was no real action for about two minutes. However, a short while later - whilst the game was in progress - they went to a commercial. D'oh!
9. The Number Of Times Thiago Gets Himself Involved In A Needless Argument
He's undoubtedly one of our best players and is hugely entertaining to watch but his annoying tendency to get involved in ridiculous arguments with officials and opposing players really grates. Just get on with the game, Thiago. You don't need to be so silly. Leave that to Mario.
As we've already established, Thiago was absent today so this isn't really relevant. Still, I 'd like to think that he was getting into rows with people in the stands or in his living room, if he was watching at home. That way he'll hopefully have got it all out off his system before Wednesday.
10. The Stretcher Count
Whisper it quietly but this doesn't seem to be such a big problem any more. I've noticed that referees are now taking a harder line with players who go down "injured" and we are seeing less and less of the stretcher. Opponents too appear happy to play on when someone is lying down and clearly faking it. About time too!
Hmm. The match was largely stretcher free but this was ruined slightly towards the end. The only time it was brought on during the first half, was when Jackie took a nasty whack on the ankle. However, it made a few appearances during the last fifteen minutes or so, as the home side seemed to want to break up play when Chonburi were getting on top. Disappointing.
Enjoy the match?
I thought that it was a pretty poor game overall - the first twenty five minutes were particularly awful. We did try to pass the ball around but this was made extremely difficult by the bobbly pitch. In the second half, we made some strange substitutions and seemed to lose our shape. We had no recognised out and out striker on for the second forty five minutes. And, once again, Arthit was playing at right back. Bizarre. I did think we were the better side and I am a little miffed that we didn't pick up all three points. They were certainly there for the taking. A missed opportunity. And a costly one.
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