Bangkok Casuals League Div 1 & 2
With the season nearing its conclusion, Pattaya’s Brass Monkey FC, the league leaders in Div 2, faced old foes Cosmos in Bangkok last weekend. Brass could not afford to slip up in this game as second place The Sportsman were waiting in the wings to pounce on any mistakes.
Cosmos started the match with only ten players and paid the price early on when Brass opened the scoring after just three minutes. Brass received a throw-in on the left and Tshuma sent a defense splitting through-ball into the path of Matveev who shot past the advancing keeper to make it 1-0.
Brass continued to pile the pressure on the Cosmos defense but the home team held firm. A breakaway attack by Cosmos then brought a good save by Brass’s keeper Yongui and this gave the Cosmos players a lift and they started to move the ball around with more confidence. An over-hit pass brought the equaliser for Cosmos as the Brass Monkey defense was caught static and a Cosmos forward nipped in to tap the ball into an empty net to make it 1-1.
Cosmos, with their tails up now, played some good football but the Brass defense was now more alert and snuffed out any danger. Having a man advantage finally began to tell for Brass as they exploited gaps down the Cosmos left flank. The Pattaya team took the lead once more through a well executed free-kick from Tshuma and went close again when Janssen’s shot blasted against the Cosmos post and out to safety. Brass put their best move of the half together just before the break and this led to Porokh scoring to make the halftime score 3-1.
After the interval Brass stepped up a gear and put more pressure on the Cosmos defense and a massive scramble in Cosmos’s penalty area saw Janssen prod the ball home to make it 4-1. Cosmos tried to get more into the game and kept the Brass defense busy but they fell further behind when Matveev’s shot hit the back of the Cosmos net for his second of the match and his team’s fifth. Ten-man Cosmos were visibly tiring as the match drew to a close and they conceded a penalty kick, which Thioma converted to make the final score 6-1 to Brass.
This coming weekend Brass Monkey play their final league match at Patana School in Bangkok for the championship against 2nd placed The Sportsman, kick-off is at 4-00 p.m. Whoever wins this match will be crowned Div 2 champions.
