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