MBMG Bangkok International League Division 2
FC Nova travelled up to Bangkok last Saturday to take on the inform Bangkok Storm and came away with a well deserved victory. The 3 points gained effectively means FC Nova, in only their second season, have gained promotion to the top tier of amateur football in Bangkok, a fantastic achievement by all involved with the football club.
Coach Stuart Levy however will not let his side rest on their laurels and with only 2 games remaining in the season will concentrate on winning both those fixtures and go up as worthy champions.
Levy once again had to tinker with the players he had available last weekend to provide the best formation. He reverted back to the tried and tested 4 4 2, with inspirational captain Lee Homer coming back to partner Mark Mckeown in the middle of the park and Paul Derbyshire reinstated back to his favoured centre forward position to partner the inform Bjorn Ellingsen.
FC Nova.
The formation seemed to give more stability to Nova’s play and they certainly had the better of the opening exchanges against the Storm. However, similar to the previous week they could not turn their early pressure into goals although both strikers Ellingsen and Derbyshire had good opportunities to open their account.
The pressure was telling and Nova finally broke the deadlock on 25 minutes; Sit Namthong, making a rare appearance for the Pattaya outfit due to his naval commitments, burst down the left wing before providing the perfect cross for leading scorer Ellingsen to calmly slot home.
Nova now firmly had a grip on the game, Mckeown and Homer were bossing the centre of midfield and new signing Deow on the right of midfield was seeing plenty of the ball. The young Thai midfielder looks a great signing and with a little more composure at times could have got a couple of goals himself as he jinked his way past the Storm players time and again.
With 10 minutes remaining in the half Nova suffered a blow when one of their senior players Derbyshire suffered a nasty clash of heads with a young Storm centre half. The Nova player came off worse and had to be carried from the field dazed and suffering concussion as well needing 14 stitches in a head wound!
Coach Levy had an adequate replacement in the experienced Nicholas Creasey who was soon in the action linking up play well. With minutes remaining in the half a well worked move saw the ball arrive to the feet of Creasey, who cleverly laid the ball back into the path of his captain Homer who unleashed a screamer from 25 yards that crashed into the roof of the net.
Soon after the half time whistle blew and Coach Levy got his players together and demanded more of the same stuff. Telling his players not to take their foot of the gas as Bangkok Storm had hit a bit of form of late with some strong second half displays themselves.
Levy introduced another new signing Alex Milburn for the start of the second half and the player, who has trained with Nova all season but has been unable to find his way into the squad until now, relished the opportunity and was a constant menace to the Storm back four as he chased down everything.
Nova were looking comfortable with their two goal lead but midway into the half Levy was forced into making a couple of changes with the impressive Lee Turner and young Deow having to be replaced through injuries. This somewhat upset the balance and cohesion of the team, however captain Homer had reverted back to centre half to shore up the defence alongside young Ton, who gave another assured display.
Storm were now pressing in search of a goal that would get them back in the game, however they could not find a way passed Homer and his well drilled defence and Jesper Karlsson was giving a more than competent display in the Nova goal.
After weathering the “Storm” Nova had chances to extend their lead in the final ten minutes as their opponents committed more players forward. But they failed to capitalise on these opportunities and in the end the final whistle blew and Nova had ran out comfortable 2 goal victors.
After the game the celebrations could begin as Levy and his players were in jubilant mood after gaining promotion to the higher echelons after only their second season as a club.
Levy and his Nova side will certainly want to end the season in style and a win over BSL Youth in Bangkok this coming weekend will see them crowned champions. They then finish off their league campaign the following week with a home fixture against Picked Liver.
Coach Stuart Levy will certainly know it will be a hard ask in Division 1 next season as there is a big gap in standard between the two divisions, with the top division extremely demanding in terms of speed and fitness. A number of clubs are recruiting African players to cope with the demands of the physicality of the league, however Nova are a club built on strong principles, effectively started up by a group of lads that fancied a game of football, and they have done remarkably well this season.
Levy knows he will need to improve his squad for next season but will continue to keep to the clubs traditions, that is first and foremost looking for players from the local ex-pat community.
After the trip back from Bangkok the lads from Nova were treated to splendid array of food laid on by Jamesons Irish Bar before celebrating long and hard into the night.
Also on a nice note congratulations to Nova’s influential captain Lee Homer, who became a father for the first time on Monday and all the players and management wish Lee, Sar and their new arrival all the very best for the future!
