Dateline 26^th May 2018

 FT Chang Rai 1 NRFC 2

Attendance; 3009

The Swatcats, in dire need of a decent performance, took on the inform Beetles this weekend.

In a disastrous start for the visitors, Chang Rai were awarded a penalty in the first minute for a foul on Cardoso. Samuel Cunningham brought off a tremendous save from the spot kick but in the following melee, the home side scrambled the ball into the net.

In the 13^th minute Ekkachai drew a fine save from the home keeper with a 40 yard screamer as the Swatcats countered - in fact the Swatcats put together more passes in the first 10 minutes than they did in the whole of the recent Chonburi game.

The visitors were rewarded with this brief period of pressure when Sarawut scored a fine solo goal in the 19^th minute. Chang Rai fought back and there was drama in the 26^th minute when Cardoso headed in from a free kick but he was adjudged to have fouled keeper Cunningham and the goal was ruled out.

Cleiton headed just over in the 37^th minute as the hosts began to exert pressure and despite his excellent earlier penalty save, this was the third time that Cunningham had flapped at and misjudged a cross. Minutes later he completely fluffed a simple shot and luckily for him, the follow up shot hit the bar.

In first half added time, the Swatcats were awarded a penalty for handball - a harsh decision in my opinion. Sarawut chipped in the spot kick with mischievous aplomb to give the men from Korat a first half lead.

With a shock on the cards, the beetles pressed but the visitors defended bravely with two lines of 4 men effectively trying to park the proverbial bus. With my limited tactical knowledge, I thought that the team was, as usual, defending too deep and one thought that it would be a tall order to hold onto their slender lead.

 Despite their defensive posture, the visitors looked dangerous at times on the break and Chang Rai, despite their pressure, were not creating real chances.

In the 77^th minute Cunningham redeemed himself when he tipped a header around the post and as Chang Rai pressed incessantly, an equalizer looked increasingly likely.

The visitors continued to hold their ground and following a break, Pina missed a Golden chance to seal the victory in the 91^st minute when he blasted over after being set up by the marauding Sawawut.

An improved performance from the team tonight - a spunky performance with no Adiyiah or Rangel of course and Pina left on the bench. A massive second half rearguard action was rewarded with a fine and needed 3 points. This is the type of performance that will give us a chance of survival - more of the same please boys.

We now sit in 11^th place (and on equal points with 8^th place Suphanburi) at the end of Leg 1 - I would have settled for that at the start of the season !!

Footnote 1; A quick look at the table shows how important this result was. If we had lost we would be 1 point off the relegation places.

Foot note 2; It is pretty obvious where our problems lie - only 18 goals scored, only Air Force, Navy and Ubon have scored less - let’s hope we secure a couple of decent strikers for Leg 2.

Match Day 17 Stats

Dateline 19^th May 2018

 FT NRFC 0 Chonburi Sharks 1

Attendance; 4219

Chonburi Sharks were the visitors in tonights mid table clash at a wet 80th Anniversary Stadium.

After a rather sterile and low key start to the match, the visitors began to dominate possession with some free flowing and effective passing movements. The hosts seemed sluggish and unable to string a series of passes together as they laboured to contain the Sharks who appeared to want the victory more.

 The Sharks continued to pull the home team’s defence apart at will and with good off the ball movement from their players with the hosts struggling to get a foothold in the game.

The Sharks endeavours were rewarded in the 18th minute when a defensive error and poor marking handed Worachit a tap in to put them into the lead. The visitors, with confidence growing, continued to dominate possession as the home team wilted and in a half of few chances and the Sharks went in at half time deservedly in the lead.

The second half commenced with the Swatcats, perhaps after a gentle roasting from coach Joksic, showing a little more fight. They were however, still off the pace and Chonburi had a fine early chance to go two up with a Kroekrit drive going narrowly wide. Kroekrit had another chance in the 77^th minute when he broke clear but he punted the ball over the bar.

The Swatcat’s only response was a long range effort from Pina and a scrambled effort following a corner. One of the pitiful lowlights of the second half was Paulo Rangel’s pathetic contribution to the Swatcat’s cause - he really has to go!!

In a late, final flourish Pina drew a fine save from keeper Chanin and Rangel completely miss kicked a golden opportunity to score an unlikely equalizer as the Sharks held on for their three points.

Yet another pretty poor performance from the Swatcats - possibly the worst performance by a Swatcat team in the many years that I have supported them. They lacked their usual vigour and spirit and really were given a footballing lesson by the Sharks tonight. It is hard to see a positive way forward for this team as there are so many problems surfacing with the defence, without Chalermpong tonight, looking disorganized and inept, midfield giving the ball away too freely and our attack now relying on Rangel whose lack of pace and movement is a real worry.

Relegation is now starkly staring the team in the face. It is a battle that can be won but it will take better performances than this to ensure the team’s safety.

Footnote 1: This game saw Dominic Adiyiah’s last match for the Swatcats. He has been a fine servant of the club for three and a half years and he will be missed.

Footnote 2: After tonight’s performance I doubt whether more than half of tonight’s 4219 fans will bother to turn up for the next home match. Here’s looking forward to a sub 2000 crowd for the next home game - fans are simply not going to turn up to watch garbage!!

Match Day 16 Stats

Dateline 13^th May 2018

 FT Prachuap Kiri Khan 2 NRFC 1

Attendance; 4158

The Swatcats face a daunting task as they take on high flying Prachuap this weekend. Still no Adiyiah (and no Pina either) but there was a welcome return for Metee Taweekulkarn (T May T) after a long period out through injury.

The match started in a rather low key fashion but the match burst into life in the 10th minute when Cunningham misjudged a cross and the resulting, lobbed header from Prachuap was hooked off the line by a grateful Decha.

The hosts went close again in the 18^th minute when a shot edged wide of the upright but the men from Korat appeared to be holding their own as the half progressed.

The Killer Wasps opened the scoring in the 31^st minute with a diving header from Doumbouya that looped over Keeper Cunningham and with the Swatcats offering little up front my thought at this point was “game over”.

The second half commenced with Prachuap pressing but in the 60^th minute Rangel’s far post header nearly crept in as the keeper scrambled to keep the ball from crossing the goal line - perhaps the Swatcats first chance of the match!!

The hosts almost went two up in the 64^th minute but the Swatcats were first saved by the post and then by a fine save from Cunningham.

With the visitors unable to capitalize on a brief period of second half pressure, Prachuap went two up in the 87^th minute when Reis turned in a cross. Korat answered almost immediately when they pulled one back with a looping freekick from Pralong Sawandee. In a final flourish the Swatcats almost salvaged a point when Lee rattled a shot against the upright with literally the last kick of the match.

Well, nothing was expected from this game and nothing is what we got. An OK defensive performance against the in-form Prachuap but I can recall only a couple of significant chances produced by the visitors. Rangel, despite his recent hat trick, is simply not good enough and the continued absence of Adiyiah is adding to our woes up front.

The team now needs to concentrate on gaining points from lesser teams, particularly at home - the relegation battle has belatedly begun – buckle up, gird your loins, it’s gonna get tough!!

Match Day 15 Stats

Relegation Blues ???

This weekend's game against high flying Prachuap is a vital one for the Swatcats. There is still hope for a bounce back victory after last's week's disappointment but with mid table being so tight, a loss could see us drop down the table dramatically.

Our potential and realistic position is around 12^th -14^th place (with 14^th - 18^th teams doomed to the drop). Our decent and rather fortunate start has given us a chance of survival and I remain positive in my thoughts that the team will fight 100% to retain premiership survival.

Air Force appear to be doomed and Ubon seem to have given up - they have released 5 of their top players for financial reasons. Navy are having a really bad run and I think they will go down.

The fight for the remaining 2 relegation spots is between Tero, Chainat, Ourselves and maybe Pattaya. I just cannot see Bangkok Glass going down, although they are struggling and stranger things have happened.

Although we are only 3 points above the bottom 5, there is an 8 point gap to 15th place Glass and a massive 11 point gap to 14^th place Navy. Things are going to get really tight - we need to concentrate on beating the lower placed teams which I think we can do. If we can just survive this potentially traumatic 5 down season, I think the club can cement its long term Premiership tenure -  hold on to your hats!!

Dateline 6^th May 2018

 FT NRFC 0 Port 4

Attendance; 7574

Port, aspirational chasers of the TPL title, were the guests on this stormy (come on you Daniels) evening at the 80^th Anniversary Stadium.

With Adiyiah still missing and Port playing in Fiorentina purple, the visitors opened brightly with early raids and as on several occasions during the match the Swatcat’s defence was unable to cope with Port’s lively breaks forward.

Stuttering Swatcats seemed unable to sustain any meaningful pressure and on 11 minutes a Boscovic shot was parried and Nurul poked home to put Port one up.

Not relevant to this match but…. football fans worst nightmare - an early away goal that leads to fans resorting to  their smart phones to avert the boredom of watching players going down/stretchers on/taking throw ins from the wrong place/goalkeepers taking time taking goal kicks, as the scorers resort to the inevitable time wasting. Is this the most annoying trait in Thai football? To add insult to injury the refs are too scared to add on the real amount of time lost - anyway I digress….

In one of few first half chances for the hosts Pina struck a free kick narrowly over the bar and in the 21^st minute Rangel was inches away from finishing a Pina cross. At the other end Port continued to press but were unable to add to their goal tally although Nurul missed a guilt edged chance to put them two up when he shot just wide in the 43^rd minute.

Nurul was exceptional tonight and is undoubtedly carrying this rather ordinary Port outfit. A real sign of the weakness of this year’s TPL is that the rather erratic Port outfit sit in fourth place. Nurul was a dynamo in midfield and was responsible for most, if not all of Port’s attacking movement. What a pity he was not picked up by a decent side.

The second half opened with Port bossing possession as the Swatcat defence allowed their front men to waltz around them with impunity and only a tremendous challenge by Lee prevented Port from going two up on 49 minutes. Port went close again in the 61^st minute when Cunningham saved low down.

I can only recall two meaningful shots by the hosts during the second half as they continued to splutter ineffectually and an inevitable second was scored by Port when Suarez poked in on 66 minutes.

Seconds later Ekkachai was sent off for a second yellow. The referee used the VAR facility and a confused crowd saw the card confirmed - not really sure why the referee needed to use VAR, it was a clear yellow card offence.

VAR was again used with Port players using the (I thought illegal) imaginary TV arm signals to encourage the ref to consult the system, following an incident inside the Port box. Complete and utter confusion reigned for the second time in the match!! Following the VAR consultation, Rangel was adjudged to have elbowed a defender and was lucky to stay on the pitch.

The ten men then capitulated completely with ugly scenes as Rangel showed his anger at a thigh wound inflicted by a high tackle and a Port player’s completely senseless dive to the turf in order to get an opponent sent off.

Rangel again showed his immaturity and violent streak when he elbowed a defender in the 84^th minute - this behaviour has no place in this or indeed any league.

In a late surge, with the Swatcats spent, Boscovic stroked home a third goal in the 86^th minute and Port then added a fourth when Akekanat fouled Nurul to give Port a penalty. Boscovic converted to make it four nil.

In a match littered with freekicks and time wasting, this match was not a thing of beauty. This result was undoubtedly a major disappointment for the home fans. This was the worst performance by a Swatcats team I have witnessed in years. Ports were not good but they were presented with 3 points by a lackluster “sleep mode” effort by a Swatcat team whose defence was disorganized and ineffectual. Nurul was exceptional for Port, truly a man amongst boys tonight.

If the Swatcats continue is this vein, they will soon slip into the clutches of bottom five misery - just as expected!! The team gave everything as usual tonight but things did not click for them - keep going boys.

Footnote 1: Boscovic’s ugly push on Rangel in the Port penalty box (why wasn’t he shown a red card), the Port player’s pathetic dive to try to get a red card and the inevitable time wasting showed an ugly side of a Port side whose aspirations and ability do not match but I do wish them well in their push for the championship.

Footnote 2: I have always been a supporter of VAR and tonight was the first time I have been present at a match utilizing it. The crowd was left silent, stunned and confused by its use tonight. In the sending off incident no one, including the ref (are they trained on how to carry out VAR incidents) had the slightest idea what was going on - sorry, but the admixture of Thainess and VAR is never going to work - scrap all plans on its use in Thailand immediately.

Match Day 14 Stats