Navy 0-4 Chonburi - Match Report: 2010

TPL

Navy Rayong 0-4 Chonburi

Rayong Central Sports Stadium

Attendance: 6,747

Saturday 5th June, 2010

Match Report 

For the opening fifty minutes of this game I thought that it had been a pretty even contest, indeed if anything, we had possibly been second best. For long periods in the first half we struggled to deal with the home side's free flowing football, which belied their lowly position. The fact that we had made five changes - some enforced, some out of necessity - to last weeks starting eleven didn't help and it took us a while to get going.

We did create a few chances and Michael Byrne's crosses, both from open play and set pieces, were causing panic in the Rayong penalty box. On other occasions our reluctance to shoot was our undoing, Suree was particularly guilty here after he'd done wonderfully well to create an opening for himself, and then lacked the confidence to have a pop.

At the other end Sinthaweechai was kept busy and - from about 200 yards away - what looked like a decent shout for a penalty was turned down by the referee. When the half time whistle blew I was fairly happy that we were still on level terms and the discussion in the away end centred around whether or not we'd take a point at this stage. The concensus seemed to be that we would.

However, eight minutes after the restart all that defeatist nonesense was forgotten, as Jean Marc Benie pounced on a loose ball and put us one up. His delight (or was it relief?) was there for all to see, as was his belly, which earned him a booking from the man in the middle. This goal transformed Chonburi and we started to look very dangerous every time we surged forward, which was a fairly regular occurence in the last half an hour. Three more goals were added - and a fourth was disallowed - to make last weekend's reversal seem like a distant memory.

All credit to Navy Rayong who kept playing football and carved out a few chances of their own, But, on the day, it was the visitors who had plenty of reasons to celebrate. Three more points, a return to the summit - for twenty four hours at least - and we also proved that we have the capabilities, and strength in depth, to bounce back after a setback. Four nil probably flattered us a little but we took our chances well and look like a confident team once again.