Thai League T4 West. Hua Hin City FC 0:0 Chainat United

Hua Hin City FC
Feb 10, 2018
2 min read

The long close season was over. Today was the 2018 season’s opening day in Thai League 4 (West). There have been massive changes during the break, and a host of new faces will be wearing Hua Hin City shirts this season.

There was a lot of anticipation amongst one of the largest crowds Takiab Stadium had ever seen. It was a beautiful sunny day, and the pitch was looking as good as it gets with freshly painted line markings. We just needed the team to complete a perfect day.

Our opponents, Chainat Utd were making their debut in the professional leagues after qualifying from the amateur league last season. For a new team, they were showing the attributes of a well-off team i.e. their own team bus, and staying in Hua Hin last night. Luxuries Hua Hin City can only dream about.

Both teams were evenly matched throughout the match. It was a torrid midfield battle, which whenever Hua Hin seemed to be getting on top, they were fouled. There were only 2 saves made all match, and they were from Hua Hin free kicks. Chainat should have taken the lead after about 75 minutes, but they headed wide of an empty goal, when it would have been easier to score.

Hua Hin were definitely the better footballing side, but there just seemed to be a lack of urgency when it really mattered. It is very hard to single out any player as having made the biggest impression, but likewise, nobody played badly. Keeper wasn’t used. Defence was solid, midfield worked hard. Attack didn’t get the opportunities. Maybe the final pass was a little slow.

The referee probably stole the show, as they usually do. However, he seemed to bring a new rule book with him to the game, and I’m going to have to check to see if the new season has brought new rules because I was more confused at the refereeing than usual. So I may be doing the ref an injustice regarding some of his decisions. Areas for clarification: