It was so strange returning to a venue we’d only played at 2½ months ago for yet another league match. However, this time weather conditions were good and the Hua Hin side were vastly different to the team who played here in May.
We were a little weakened in defence this week with the unexpected injury to Ali M during the pre-match warm up. That combined with the continued absence of Roland, we couldn't afford further injury in that position. The inevitable happened, and we did suffer another unfortunate injury half way through the match, and top goal scorer Ali G was forced to play the 2nd half in defence.
I’m not sure if this was a physical match, or whether the referee had a new whistle, and wanted to test it. Rarely did we seem to go more than 20 seconds without his whistle being blown. I actually started to believe it was a sympathy seeking tactic by Look E-San trying to disrupt the flow of the game, whilst picking up free kicks in the process. Thankfully, the referee did not see fit to blow his whistle when there was blatant diving inside the penalty area.
Hua Hin had the perfect start within 3 minutes of the start when Wuttichai found himself unmarked in the penalty area, and a loose ball fell at his feet. He didn’t need any further invitation to blast the ball home.
The Look E-San goal after 17 minutes was a bit of a rare defensive error by Hua Hin. A strong defence has been Hua Hin’s trademark all season, but the Look E-San defender was left unmarked, just off the centre of the Hua Hin penalty area. His finish must have been the easiest goal he scored all season, giving Natchapon little chance.
I think Hua Hin had the better of the first half, although they couldn’t execute a clean finish. I’ve already said it was a physical match, and this involved Hua Hin injuries, and a change in formation. Dorian’s ball distribution was very good, and it was good to see him forming a partnership with Arnon, who came close several times. It’s such a shame we lost Ali G from the attack. I think Dorian, Ali G, Amos and Arnon could be a formidable strike force at this level. Because of the personnel change, I think the second half was fairly even.
A special mention goes to Nattawut, who I don’t remember featuring in a league match before. He came on with about 20 minutes to play, and did impress with his energy and obvious skill.
It was not the result we were looking for. A win would have taken us further up the league, but this result saw us drop a place. It will be a tough test at Kanchanaburi next week, where we take on Champions League contenders, Muangkan Utd.
