Pre-season 2018. PT Prachuap FC 2:0 Hua Hin City FC

On paper, this was going to be Hua Hin’s toughest pre-season test. T1 opposition versus T4 – that is a huge gap. Prachuap’s Sam Ao Stadium is being refurbished for T1 football next season, so the match was being played on the training ground outside. It was a cool, misty day for the game.

We were assured that Prachuap would be playing their entire first team squad, which included Korean player Kwon Dae-hee who had previously had trials for Hua Hin City twice last year.

Hua Hin started the match, and were definitely not outclassed by their T1 peers. They moved the ball around well, and had numerous chances before Prachuap grabbed a well taken goal against the run of play to give them a first half advantage. A neutral bystander could not have identified which team was from T1.

The starting 11 will be close to the 11 that will start the game on 10th Feb. It was the first time we have seen them as a single force, and they were impressive, with Maraba being very hard to handle..

The second half was a completely different game as Hua Hin gradually introduced new players. The half got off to a terrible start, with Hua Hin conceding a very soft goal early on. OK, the kind of mistake to get out of your system during friendly matches, as it would be a disaster in a real match.

Having learnt from the first half, Prachuap smothered Maraba in the second, which basically left Feli and his full back unmarked on the right. However, every ball from the goalkeeper went to the crowded left. Similarly, Hua Hin’s young midfielder either passed left, or took wild pot shot from about 40 yards. On the rare occasion Maraba escaped his guard, he played some lovely balls to Feli, who did make several exciting runs, with the full back, and created chance after chance.

Hua Hin’s defence stayed strong, and the game ended at 2 – 0. A positive twist has to be put on the second half, and lessons have to be learned e.g.:

• Vary where the goalkeeper distributes the ball. If it’s being launched to the same 5 square yards every time, the opposition will learn, and wait for the ball to arrive.

• A football field has 2 wings. A midfielder should distribute right and left. Feli was unused for much of the second half.

• Shooting from 40 yards looks spectacular if it works, but think of the hard work by team mates to get the ball 40 yards from goal. Unless you’re really sure, don’t take the easy option and waste your team mates’ efforts. Play the ball closer to goal where a striker will have a much better chance of scoring from 20 or 10 yards.

Overall, this game should have finished 1 – 0, and the T4 side were not disgraced. I hope they learn from it, and strengthen the already good team. We will see on Friday if of today’s lessons have been learned.

#2018 #Preseason #Friendly