Today was going to be the hardest test yet for our new-look side. No more using the excuse that many of the team were new, and just getting to know each other. These guys were put together in very fast time, and had hit the ground running. This was their 3rd match together - veterans.
BTU are a good side, sitting just behind the leaders, whilst despite a run of good results, we are struggling to break away from the bottom pack.
Some notable changes this week included Ratchapark back to captain the team, Dorian starting in midfield instead of Ali G and Ali Mohammedi sitting in the stand. The weather was perfect for a good game of football.
The first half was very evenly matched, with both sides coming very close on several occasions. The tempo was fast, and the game itself was very physical. How Hua Hin City have evolved. The boys that played the first half of the season would have been bullied off the ball, but Hua Hin’s men were more than a match for the physicality brought to the field by BTU.
The second half saw Katchatip make the vital breakthrough with a well-executed finish after a bit of a goal mouth scramble. BTU were clearly shocked by this, and really knocked their game up a couple of notches, creating assault after assault on the Hua Hin goal. Unfortunately, when upping their game, they started playing on the referee’s compassionate site, constantly complaining. The referee was giving them a sympathetic ear.
It all came to a head in one of the most disgusting episodes I’ve seen on a football pitch. You can always tell when a footballer is really hurt – he lays still (no dramatics). Anon was injured, and lay totally still, half on the field and half off it. When the referee eventually realised it was serious, and stopped play, 2 BTU players, including their goalkeeper ran half the length of the pitch and tried to roll the injured man off the field with absolutely no regard to the injury. These players were not even cautioned for such dangerous ungentlemanly conduct, and this was when the referee completely lost the plot – he was actually ranting at the injured player.
From that point onwards, the referee had totally lost the plot. Ali G was sent off for saying what he thought of him, and Petprasert was booked for not taking a free kick when he was closest to the ball.
Despite this being another game, which was all about the referee, both teams battled very hard, and it was an exciting match to watch. It was tension to the end. A draw was probably the fairest result on the day.
