Dateline 28^th June 2017 – Match day 20.

 FT Pattaya United 3 NRFC 1

The Swatcats visited the home of fellow relegation candidates Pattaya United.

Early in the match, Pattaya looked a far more polished side than the visitors. They passed the ball through midfield well and looked dangerous up front. For the visitor’s part, the ball was given away cheaply allowing the home team to attack in waves.

The first real chance of the game came in the 10^th minute when Pina hit a 25 yard free kick that drew the best from the Dolphin’s keeper. The home team countered immediately with a 25 yard drive spectacularly saved by Koedpudchar.

In the 14^th minute a second “supersave” from keeper Koedpudchar prevented the Dolphins from going ahead. The Dolphins were now pressing and another miracle save from the visitor’s keeper again kept the scores level.

In the 29^th minute the inevitable happened when Stojanovic blasted home to give Pattaya a deserved lead. Minutes later Adiyiah went clear but his week shot was pushed wide - a good chance missed! From the resulting corner Rangel was adjudged to have been brought down in the box and a penalty was awarded - a harsh decision in my opinion. Replays revealed a blatant dive. Rangel himself converted the spot kick.

The Swatcats ended the half, somewhat fortuitously on level terms at 1-1.

The second half saw the home team still in the ascendancy and in the 58^th minute a fine drive from Santitorn put the hosts ahead. The Swatcats were offering very little up front, with Rangel’s low drive being the only chance of the half.

With Pattaya continuing to dominate they added a third when Wongsakorn added a third in time added on.

After the euphoria of last week a “down to earth” feeling for the Swatcats. They were thoroughly outplayed by Patttaya and in fact could have conceded 5 or 6 goals.

Not a disaster but it does put the team 1 point above fourth from bottom -  a precarious position to be in and with games against Buriram and Muang Thong to come, things could get much worse.

On the bright side, another goal from Rangel but that apart not too much to celebrate.

Match day 20 stats

Dateline 24^th June 2017 – Match day 19.

 FT NRFC 5 Chonburi Sharks 2

The Swatcats welcomed the high flying Chonburi Sharks to the 80^th Anniversary Stadium with the hosts desperate for points to help them pull away from possible relegation woes.

In front of 5163 fans, Chonburi opened brightly with the Swatcats seemingly unable to “get into gear” and unsurprisingly after some shambolic defending from the hosts the Sharks raced into the lead when Prince Amponsah slotted home in the 6^th minute.

My early thoughts were “oh heck we’re in for a good beating tonight” - how wrong could I be!!

The hosts tried to settle but too many passes were going astray. Early on, the Sharks looked the stronger team and with the absence of suspended skipper Chalermpong, the Swatcat’s defence looked vulnerable.

In the 29^th minute a well taken free kick from Pina evaded the keeper and Victor Igbonefo tapped in to equalize. The goal seemed to bring the home side to life and minutes later a sharp counter attack led to a shot on target from Chakrit. Sensing blood, the hosts pushed forward and Chanatphon’s excellent angled shot was well saved by the keeper.

The Swatcats went 2-1 up in the 45^th minute when Adiyiah slotted home after he was put clear by a superb through ball from Pina.

The second half began with an excellent end to end passing move culminating in an angled shot from Chanatphon cannoning off the foot of the post. With the hosts finally moving into top gear, the Sharks looked weary and lacking in confidence.

In the 51^st minute, a though ball drew the Sharks keeper out of his area to challenge and Chakrit lobbed the ball wide with an empty net beckoning.

The Sharks managed a rare chance on 54 minutes but Igbonefo scrambled the ball clear. Almost immediately Adiyiah played in Rangel who turned into the box and shot home from 8 yards - a sharp piece of forward play from the Brazilian to put the hosts 3-1 up.

In the 72nd minute Dominic Adiyiah put the game to bed when he finished off a fine solo run with a 20 yard drive that curved deliciously into the far corner of the net. The demolition was completed on 78 minutes when Chakrit latched onto a cross from Rangel and netted from 10 yards.

In the dying embers of the encounter Renan Marques added a consolation goal when he tapped in after a decent move

Football is a “funny old game” as ‘Arry Redknapp once said. This was by no means the best Swatcat performance at home this season and yet they bang in 5 goals - and it should have been 7. It is easy to say that the Sharks, in all honesty, did not put up much of a fight but the host’s finishing was clinical and of course Paulo Rangel does give us more firepower up front.

So, let’s enjoy the moment - my mind is made up, this team will not be relegated and at the moment the signing of Rangel seems to be a masterstroke - why it took so long for the coaching staff to see the problem is something to be discussed.

However, my caution now kicks in - one swallow does not make a summer and there were problems tonight. If I may nit-pick, some of the passing tonight was inept - especially early on and we gave the ball away needlessly on many occasions.

We will not be playing teams like Chonburi every week and our next two home games are against Muang Thong and Buriram. It is vital that we get something on Wednesday against struggling Pattaya United.

Match day 19 stats

Hands up all those who want a break free season…. Yep, I guess that’s all of us.

The current season structure is a mess - no continuity, a stop/start charade that gees us all up then let’s us down just as things get interesting. At a time when attendances are dropping from an already mediocre level, things need to change to provide a more straight-through and continuous shootout.

The move of making Tier 1 a 16 team competition is an ideal opportunity to modernize and streamline the fan’s season. I would prefer a 12 team league but that’s for another day!!

So what activities could be slung out and what are essentials that have to be kept.

·         The National team has to have breaks - acknowledged - but not the overlong breaks that we currently endure and which do not seem to be yielding much improvement in National team performance. Copy the European pattern and shorten the break.

·         Scrap the terms “Leg 1” and “Leg 2”. If there is no break why artificially compartmentalize the season.

·         Scrap the King’s Cup - a meaningless and underwhelming tournament that is out of step with current international fixture thinking worldwide.

·         Scrap the Songkran break - contentious I know and I personally would not try to travel to a game at these dangerous times BUT last year’s fixture between Buriram and Chonburi drew a tremendous crowd when held around Songkran time. If I were in charge I would use the Songkran festival as a nationwide “footie fest” with free family tickets and food and “water” freely available!!

So there we have it, for the 2018 season with 16 teams, 30 weekend fixtures with perhaps just a couple of weekends lost to NT breaks. No midweek league fixtures with the 2 cup competitions taking up relevant midweek slots.

Slightly off point but in my mind as Thai domestic football seems to be an armchair viewer’s activity, I would like to see more Friday evening fixtures, supplemented by Monday night football too. Match day crowds will howl that it is difficult to get to these games but it has become a “use it or lose it” situation. Thai football cannot be sustainable by relying solely on fans turning up on matchdays. While on the subject why not have cup matches on Tuesday/Wednesday to allow for more football coverage.

Dateline 18^th June 2017 – Match day 18.

FT Police Tero 3  NRFC 1

The second leg of the 2017 season kicks off this weekend with the Fire Dragons welcoming the Swatcats from Korat for this mid-table clash.

Former Swatcat keeper Kampon was in goal for Tero and the Swatcats started with new signing Rangel up front. The Swatcats started brightly with an interchange between Rangel and Adiyiah ending with a low shot on target from the Ghanaian.

In the 11^th minute Weerayut Kayem volleyed in after a fine move to give Tero the lead but with the visitors passing the ball around confidently one sensed that they could strike back and in the 16^th minute Pina went close with a 22 yard drive. Minutes later Chanatphol’s long range shot went narrowly over the bar.

In the 29^th minute a superb move terminated with a snap shot from 6 yards by Adiyiah that was well saved by the Tero keeper and although the visitors were having a lot of possession, Tero looked dangerous on the break.

The Swatcats equalized (deservedly so) in the 37^th minute when debutant Paulo Rangel  deflected a shot in with a clever back heel flick but almost immediately Tero broke forward and N’Dri lobbed in smartly to regain the lead.

The second half began with Igbonefo heading just over from a Pina free kick, Tero countered with a low drive going inches wide. The Swatcats were now pressing for an equalizer as Tero seemed to tire and in the 64^th minute the Swatcats were awarded a penalty for a trip in the box but Pina’s kick was well saved by keeper Kampon.

The visitors continued to press but their chances of a point were dented when Chalermpong was shown a red card for a second bookable offence - an exceedingly harsh decision in my opinion!!

N’Dri went close with a header in the 77^th minute in a rare second half chance for the hosts as the Swatcat’s second half dominance failed to yield the vital equalizer. In the 91^st minute Tero were awarded a penalty for a push. The penalty was converted by N’Dri to give Tero an undeserved 3-1 lead.

Another decent performance (sorry, I sound like a broken record!!) and the performance probably merited a point. The Swatcats surely cannot go down if they continue to perform like this but they have to pick up points against lesser teams if they are to survive. Rangel looks like a useful acquisition and could form a formidable force up front with Adiyiah. Defensively the team looks sound and midfield is passing the ball around well - quite honestly, I am at a loss to work out why our performances are not yielding more points.

Match day 18 Stats