Pattaya United were held to a hard fought draw by Thai Port FC at the Institute for Physical Education football stadium in Chonburi last Sunday in a game that was marred by some ugly clashes between rival fans.
The visitors started the brighter of the two teams and almost took the lead as early as the second minute when right back Alef Porjee saw his effort beat Narit in the Pattaya goal but then rebound to safety off the woodwork.
The game had a definite edge to it and the tackles were flying in thick and fast with both sides giving no quarter. Following one such hefty challenge Thai Port’s Ekachai Samre was left prostrate on the ground and had to be replaced by Sarawut Kongcharoen.
Soon after this, just before the half hour mark, United took the lead when a spectacular 30 yard curling shot by Somchai Singmaee bamboozled the Thai Port goalkeeper Munze Ulrich, who could only stand and watch as it flew over his shoulder, striking the far post before bouncing kindly into the path of United’s Kazuya Myodo, who then got into a tangle with Ulrich before the keeper inadvertently kicked the ball into his own net.
The goal came slightly against the run of play but its effect was to galvanize the home side into greater effort and they largely controlled the remainder of the first half to lead at the break.
After the interval it took the visitors all of four minutes to get back on level terms, although United could feel themselves unlucky as Wangsawad’s shot was deflected by a Dolphin’s defender into the path of substitute Kongcharoen who slotted the ball past Narit with the United defence left flat footed.
Pattaya introduced their new Nigerian striker O. J. Obatola in the 68th minute and the livewire forward came close to creating two goals in his first minute on the pitch but both times he mistimed his connection with the ball and the chances were gone.
Obatola did create one more chance for his strike partner Ludovick but the Cameroonian star saw his looping effort hit the top of the crossbar and fall behind for a goal kick.
Overall both teams would have to be happy with a point as neither side played with much fluency and United will be hoping for a better performance when they take on Osotspa M-150 in their next Premier League match in Chonburi on Sunday, March 13.
Football aside, the game last Sunday was overshadowed somewhat by several distasteful clashes between rival sets of fans on the terraces that went on for several minutes and saw security and police forces called in to restore order. With other similar incidents of note recently in the news, it’s to be hoped that Thai football authorities will crack down on this type of behavior before it gets too far out of control.
Thai Premier League Results (Feb. 26 & 27): SCG Samut Songkhram 2 Srisaket FC 1, Navy FC 1 Chiang Rai United 3, Osotspa M-150 2 Chonburi FC 2, Bangkok Glass 0 Muangthong United 0, TTM Pichit 1 BEC Tero 2, Army United 3 Sriracha FC 1, Buriram 1 Insee Police 1, TOT FC 0 Khon Kaen FC 2, Pattaya United 1 Thai Port FC 1.
