Dateline 30^th July 2017 – Match day 24.

 FT NRFC 3 Si Saket 0

The Swatcats welcomed fellow Isaan strugglers Si Saket this weekend. An important encounter for both teams, both eager to lever themselves clear of relegation woes.

Tonight’s attendance was 7041 - despite a “two for one” ticket promotion.

The game commenced in sensational style when in the opening seconds, Rangel rose to nod a downward header goal wards. The header was well saved by the Kouprey’s keeper. Minutes later after a fine passing move, Rangel beat the keeper with a stunning lob which rattled the crossbar – the home team was on fire!!

On 10 minutes free kick specialist Pina shot from 25 yards, the keeper and the upright both contributed to his shot spinning narrowly wide. As the men from Korat continued to dominate, Dominic Adiyiah cut inside and drew another amazing save from the visitor’s keeper. In this tremendous run of attacking prowess, Adiyiah then struck the bar from 8 yards with the goal at his mercy - he really should have done better.

In the 21^st minute the inevitable happened as Adiyiah slid the ball in from 8 yards to open the scoring.

At half time and in a half completely dominated by the home side, one was left wondering if the men from Korat would rue the chances missed with the score at a precarious 1-0. The Koupreys had been limited to a single headed effort and looked in disarray.

The second half began with the fans looking forward to further domination and more goals, but to everyone’s amazement, the visitors began to dominate possession and looked likely to equalize. The men from Korat looked fatigued and they had lost their momentum. Luckily for the home fans, the Koupreys were unable to convert their possession into real chances and in the 55^th minute an Adiyiah break was smartly put away by the inform Rangel - relief all round!!

The visitors now seemingly on their knees faded as their confidence drained away and the men in orange again began to dominate. Kritsada completed the scoring with another delicious lob that completely bamboozled the keeper. Pressing forward for a fourth goal Adiyiah was unlucky when an audacious back heel was scrambled off the line.

In the dying embers of the game, Si Saket managed two golden chances to open their account but the home keeper kept them at bay.

A pretty buoyant performance from the Swatcats tonight. The game could have finished 6-0. The home team produced a plethora of chances against a very mediocre Si Saket outfit. With ten games to go, the Swatcat’s premier league status seems safe and despite my early season apprehensions, my gut feeling has always been that the team would be safe.

Paulo Rangel has been “the find of the season” - why the management did not identify our striker problem earlier in the season mystifies me. Had he been brought in earlier, some of our disappointing early season home draws could have been converted and top ten status could have been cemented.

Let’s hope for a strong finish to the season - the team has a couple of home “bankers” to come and with growing confidence top ten could still become a reality.

A couple of interesting points. The match saw the return of Bjorn Lindemann. He was given a generous round of applause when he was substituted off. Also in the Si Saket side was former star of the English leagues Leroy Lita - always a pacey and dangerous striker.

Their loss led to the sacking of the Si Saket head coach - he was their third coach appointed this season. Things look bad for fellow strugglers Si Saket - I will be sorry if the league loses a team from the Isaan region.

Match Day 24 Stats