Bangkok Casuals Football League
Pattaya based Brass Monkey FC, having narrowly lost out in the division 2 championship race earlier this month, traveled to Bangkok last weekend to play The Londoner in the semi-final of the League Cup.
The Londoner, who were lying in second place in the first division, posed a hard test for Brass but it was the Pattaya team who took the initiative in the game and they put The Londoner defense under a lot of pressure, forcing a succession of corners but they were unable to take advantage of their early superiority. The Brass players’ profligacy in front of goal was highlighted when Vorontzov was put clean through on goal twice and with just the Londoner keeper to beat, he skewed his shot wide on both occasions.
Having enjoyed this early reprieve, The Londoner started putting their game together and they took the lead when their forward out jumped a static Brass defense from a corner kick to head the ball home.
The Londoner almost doubled their lead soon after but Brass keeper Yongui pulled off a fine one-handed save to keep the score at 1-0. The same player was left powerless a few minutes later however when The Londoner forward latched onto a good cross and powered in a header to make it 2-0 to the home team.
Despite the double setback, Brass continued to take the game to the Londoner and they were rewarded when the ball was worked down the left and a blistering shot by Ndjana left the home keeper clutching fresh air to make it 2-1, which was the score at half time.
After the interval Brass continued to pressure the Londoner’s defense and after a slow build up Dipita put the finishing touch to a good move by slotting the ball home to make it 2-2.
A massive thunderstorm broke overhead and both defenses had to exercise caution as the surface became slippery and was ideal for counter-attacking moves. Brass almost took the lead for the first time in the match when Matveen’s header smacked against The Londoner crossbar, but the home team then broke away and a hopeful shot saw the Brass keeper agonizingly let the ball slip through his hands and roll into an empty net for the Londoner to take the lead 3-2.
A fracas in the Brass penalty area soon after involving both sets of players saw Brass reduced to nine men and The Londoner down top ten for the final period of the game. When play was restarted The Londoner earned a penalty which was well saved by Phansak, the stand in keeper for Brass who also brought off another couple of fine saves soon after.
A man down, it was still the Brass Monkey who attacked The Londoner’s goal but time ran out for the Pattaya team, with the referee’s final whistle bringing an end to a hugely entertaining match.
Brass gave their all and played some of their best football of the season and to reach this stage was a great achievement for a newly formed club. Manager Rick Bryant has now reached another milestone by taking two different clubs up to the top division.
