Before we departed Hua Hin, I think even though the most optimistic of us were not expecting too much from a high flying Suphanburi, who are currently 7 points clear at the top of the league. However, we knew our team were getting stronger with each match, and they would give 110% regardless of the result. We are not the best team in the league yet, so that is all we can ask. When we arrived at a very hot, beautiful Suphanburi Provincial Stadium, we were greeted with the news that because it was an International weekend, the Suphanburi A team did not have a match, so they would be fielding 8 of their first team squad. Personally, with promotion out of the question for this season, I saw this as a great chance to see our side play competitive football against one of Thailand’s top sides. We could see from the pre-match warm up that we were not playing against the young kids who had featured in the 2 previous matches this season. The first half started, and I was wondering what the t1 hype was all about. Hua Hin were matching Suphanburi in every quarter. Suphanburi broke the deadlock with a penalty. It was an unfortunate foul, and a well converted goal – no complaints. Not long after, Amos broke through the Suphanburi defence, and equalised with a well-positioned shot. This was encouraging, because our centre-forward did this 2 more times as the game progressed against a top notch defence. He scored one more, and hit the crossbar with the third. The Amos equaliser unfortunately woke Suphanburi up. The t1 professionals just knocked the game up a couple of gears and scored a couple of beautiful goals. Their second was just magic. Their No.20 seemed to have the ball glued to his boot as he turned a couple of times inside the Hua Hin penalty area. Surely one of the prettiest goals in the league this season. Hua Hin came out for the 2nd half with their heads high, despite being 2 goals in arrears. I think they outplayed the t1 opposition. When Amos snatched his second, the difference this time was Suphanburi couldn't turn it up a gear. Hua Hin were in the ascendancy, and were unlucky not to share the points. League position is not so important for the rest of this season, although we will improve. The players will have learned an awful lot from this game, and we should thank Suphanburi for the opportunity, although I doubt they see it the same way – at least 4 of their stars picked up yellow cards. A moral victory.
