Nonthaburi 3 Kasem Bundit 1

 Image credit: sugar_tt at nonthaburifc.com

Today's victory at the Rama 9 Stadium was not as easy as the scoreline combined with the respective league positions of the teams may suggest. The first twenty minutes or so were scrappy and even. and Eka took some time to get going.

Superior finishing was the difference though as Kasembundit squandered their chances. Eka look well organised and confident, as they should be now they top the table.

A little more about the club. The owner and chief patron is a high ranking policeman who has pursued more experienced players in his quest to build a team from scratch.

Two African players have been signed by the club but they have yet to receive their work permits. To keep the busy while they wait, the club decided to make the two men work the door at tonight's game!

The new goalkeeper seems to be an instant fan favourite due to his forward somersault after every save.

Fan shots. Note the gawky looking farang in a few shots.

Build up shots

Chantaburi 0 Rajpracha 2 - Score

Raj move in to second place.

Rajpracha 2 Suphanburi 1 - Highlights

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Also check out Raj's new look website

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Nonthaburi Vs Kasembundit has been moved to 1730 on Tuesday 30th March 2010 as the FA continue their bid to screw up every fixture list in the league.

Rajpracha 2 Suphanburi 1

A successful, if quiet opening game for Rajpracha. The club had a decent sized crowd - with plenty of visiting fans , too - and a new merchandise stall selling the three new teams shirts at 350 baht each.

The first half was a quiet affair as both teams cancelled each other out. The second half was better as Raj took control of the game. Both goals were scored by number 16, Tameesee.

Suphanburi pulled one back with about seven minutes left to make for a tense finish, but Raj just held out.

A good performance today but we also saw a couple of areas to work on in training for this young team. In the first half they were caught offside needlessly on a number of occasions because attacking players simply did not even take a sideways glance before rushing forward. Secondly, when Raj tried to run down the clock they did so by feigning injury and arguing. They also gave the ball away with unnecessary sideways passes and conceded free kicks in their own half.

A far better and more sporting way to run down the clock is, of course, to take the ball to the opponents' corner flag and hold possession. In Thailand, there's a good chance an opposition player will lose his cool, clatter someone and get sent off as a bonus.

To be fair, the Raj method of time killing seems to be the only method used in Thailand. Perhaps I should get a job as a coach!

In all, a good result against one of the weaker sides in this division. With effort, Raj can look for a comfortable mid-table spot this season.

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Some crowd shots

First up....Suphanburi

All depending on the match not getting postponed, of course.....

The club: 
Suphanburi FC have spent the last two seasons in Division 1 after relegation from the TPL in 2007. The club narrowly avoided relegation last year, finishing just two points above the drop zone. Club colours are orange and black. There is an official web site for the club here.

Who to watch:
Muangthong United star Mussa Sylla played for Suphanburi in their premiership days, but financial; problems have restricted the club from any top signings since then. The club have just one non Thai player on their books.

The place:
The away fans will have a distance of 100km to cover as they leave their pleasant, historical province.


I call:
With respect to Suphanburi, this is an easier game to start with than the original scheduled fixture of Rattanabundit away. It's so crucial our young squad gets off to a good start and our impressive new striker Traore' Ibrahima will be looking to make his mark. I say 2-1 Raj.

The club logo and some of the information here came from the Wikipedia article on Suphanburi FC.

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Nonthaburi FC's next opponents are Kasem Bundit University on March 28th.

What I know about them:

Nothing, except their results and league position (8th) so far this season.

I call :
3-0 Nonthaburi. With Janewit scoring twice.

More details and coverage of both Raj and Nonthaburi to come soon, time permitting. 

Raj game postponed

I believe Rajpracha's opening game against Suphanburi has been postponed until the 23rd of March due to the ongoing political protests in and around Bangkok.

If I am correct about this, Raj join the growing list of teams waiting to get the season underway. Only the games based in the north have been given the green light. This is ironic because this is where most of the protesters come from.

Time off

On Monday I'm off on a couple of days holiday in Hua Hin. I may travel straight from there to the game (Muangthong Vs Persiwa) on Wednesday so no more updates til then.

It's not the best time to travel. Latest news says two thousand red shirted protesters have descended on my home of Nonthaburi in the last few hours and have assembled within as few miles of my home and place of work. It seems the decision to call of local games was a wise one.

Ready...steady...wait

Prapan Premsri (I think and I hope)

Photo credit: Siam Sport

Like every other game scheduled for this weekend, the match between Khoen Kean and Raj has been postponed. This could well work in our favour. KK are one of the stronger teams in D1, having missed out on promotion by a whisker last season. A long journey to a top side would be a very tough opening day test for the youngsters at Raj. As I've mentioned before, the squad is so young that the start they make is even more crucial to their confidence than it is for your average side.  Now we have a home game against Suphanburi to begin with instead.

Rajpracha's coach Prapan Premsri has announced the squad is fit and needs no additional players. I hope he's right on both accounts.

Snapshots

Some good pictures of the actual game between North Bnagkok and Nonthaburi:

http://www.thailandsusu.com/webboard/index.php?topic=96383.0

Nonthaburi FC score

North Bangkok 1 Nonthaburi FC 1.

A good result against away to a team that won all three matches before this one.

EDIT: Snaps from the game here. It's mostly crowd shots but there's a few of the game itself.

Raj win 7- 0

Raj beat a team I've never heard of called "สโมสรดินแดง Idea Rwork" (Din Deang? Thong Lor?)  A newly signed striker scored four goals.

Less vague details to follow once I ask around.

A vital win for Raj, as pre-season was not going too well before this week.

Snippets

Raj drew 1-1  with TTM Pichit in a friendly last week.

The club are considering introducing a 'VIP Membership' card. I'm not sure of the benefits of being a card holder but at 100 baht per card, was it ever so cheap to be a VIP?

Another fan has posted a shot of a new scarf design for next season:
Thanks to 'Nightspor' on the football.rajpracha.com forums for this. I'm a traditionalist so this has a bit too much decor for me but I can appreciate the effort that went in to it.
Click here to see the design.

Ticket prices - 2010

Rajpracha:

Until further notice, Raj will play at the Yamaha Thunderdome Stadium

As far as I know, prices are 50 bath for adults and children are free

I've no idea about season tickets yet.


Nonthaburi FC

King Rama 9 Commemoration Stadium, Samakkee Road, Near Dkahrij Pundit University, Nonthaburi

Single match prices
TBA (the opening game was free)
It has been suggested the price will be 40 bath for adults, 20 bath for children and students.

Season tickets 550 bath.