Raj 1 Air Force 0 - Highlights

Crowd shots here

Rajpracha 1 Air Force United 0 - Report

Raj edged out title-chasers Air Force United in a very closely fought and entertaining game at the Thunderdome.

The match was played out in front of large crowd with fans of both teams generating plenty of noise. Air Force brought the largest away support I have ever seen in D1 with them.

The first half was frustrating for both teams but the game sprang to life after the break as Rajpracha's number seventeen, Sulaiman, started to find space on the right wing. On two occasions he did the hard work only to waste the cross but on the third occasion, the Air Force goal could not hold the cross and the chance fell to Tamasee at the far post to turn it in.

The goal served to galvanise Air Force and as they upped the pressure and the pace, Raj players seemed to become very nervous. They struggled to hold possession, they snapped at clearances and on one occasion a player tried a feeble shot from the half way line thats served only to give away the ball and allow Air Force to mount a quick counter-attack. But with a little luck that has been and long time coming and some great work from goalkeeper Emile, Raj held on to delight the home fans and take a truly vital three points. Great work, lads!


Starting eleven:
1 GK Yen Emile
17 DF Suramon Awakajit
15 DF Dawuda Wulampah
33 DF Sylla Moussa (but playing as a striker)
2 DF Suriya Kupalang
23 DF Kittipong Somak
14 MF Sarawut Sintupan
11 MF Kornprom Jaroonpong
27 MF Pichit  Kesaro.
13 FW Narakorn Wisetthanakarn
16 FW Tameezee Hayeeyusoh

Air Force V Raj - Photos

From Raj fans here.

From AFU fans here with some nice stadium shots and here with photos from the amazing final five minutes in which AFU went down to nine men then scored the winning goal.

Air Force United 2 Rajpracha 1

Photo credit: http://www.siamsport.co.th/

Rajpracha took an early lead and Air Force were reduced to ten men but it was not enough for Raj to hold on.


Air Force equalised before half time and although the second half was very even, it appeared to be heading towards a one-one draw. With about ten minutes left, Air Force went down to nine men when another player was dismissed for his second bookable offence. Yet on the ninetieth minute, Air Force scored. Raj applied pressure for the three minutes of injury time but could not get through.

A decent game with some flashes of good football from both sides and despite the number of yellow cards, this was not a dirty game and the ref did not give any more free kicks than he had to. Raj took a good crowd of about one hundred or more noisy fans and the home crowd were welcoming. An enjoyable day out at Don Muang for everyone.

Next up - Air Force United (away)

Image credit: www.airforceunited.com 

Raj travel to AFU on Sunday for a 1730 kick off.


I normally only preview home games that I will attend - as opposed to this away game that I hope to attend - but I want to give special mention to AFU for two reasons. One, their fans are some of the friendliest in Thai football, which is saying something. Secondly, their website is an example to all other teams. It's free of flash and other junk that slows down your browser and bloats the bill of the web designer, and focuses on giving you the actual information that you need such as player profiles, ticket details, a stadium map and a web board. I wish that teams like Osotspa would take a look at the AFU website.


Air Force United play near Don Muang Airport, which is almost as close to my home as the Thunderdome, so like many Raj fans, I hope to be hopping on the bus to attend this one. It's second against third, too.