Nonthaburi FC 1 Bangkok Christian College 1 - report

It was the proverbial game of two halves as Nonthauri produced an exciting display of football after the break in this match to clinch one point and come agonisingly close to snatching a win.

The first half was not encouraging for the home side as BCC produced an organised and disciplined display of good teamwork and movement, scoring a very impressive - even if there was a deflection - goal about thirty minutes in. Eka were without Prasop, Sathit and Janewit who is now on loan at CRU. It showed.

The second 45 minutes was a very different tale as Eka came out fighting, producing excellent overlaps on both wings and some sharp diagonal passes to open up the BCC back line. Time and time again it looked like the goal would come, only for the last touch to go begging, or a late scramble from the visitors to hold out.

The goal finally came from number 28 in the dying minutes of the action, much to the delight of the large home crowd. Nonthaburi are now promoting themselves with local posters like this one and the effect is starting to show, crowds are a little bigger and the noise greater than ever. That effect seemed to give the players the spark they needed.

Credit to both sides for putting on a good game of football in this one. For Eka, it really is the same old story: the better side, more of the play over 90 minutes but screaming out for a sharp predator or a tall, heavy target man in the penalty box.

Still there are many positives to take - exciting and good football in the second half, an all round display of hard work and team spirit, good performances from players covering injured or suspended players and the nucleus of a good squad. If we can hold on to Prasop, Korawut, Sathit, Reece, Grant, get Janewit back from loan (or replace him) and keep one of our two very good goalkeepers then we only need to fill in the obvious attacking void in the side to make a damn good push for promotion next year. The spirit is clear to see in players and fans alike.


Man of the match:
Number 14, Chatpet who worked hard down the wing and showed excellent awareness for every attacking move. Another player who caught the eye was 19, Passakorn who produced a hard-working show replacing Janewit at centre-back.

Next game is away to Thanyaburi next weekend.

Nonthaburi 1 BCC 0 - Report

Paicture credit: nonthaburifc.com

The reason I don't get to see Nonthaburi FC as often as my other two local teams isn't because I care less about them, but simply because I decided to prioritise teams in the order in which I discovered them: MTU, Raj and Eka, in that order.

So I'd missed a good few games before today's clash with Bangkok Christian College but I expected little to have changed. I was wrong.

The first change to be noticed was that merchandise was now on sale. I really like the style of both the home and away shirts so I bought one of each then entered the stadium. That was when change number two jumped out and smacked me on by big snoozer immediately.

Because Eka's home colour is black, it's common for the crowd to look like the audience at a Marilyn Manson concert for any game. However, today it had been taken one step further. The large crowd had a distinctly unorthodox look about it. To my right was a man - I repeat: a man - with large breasts. To his right was a another man who looked like a young version of Robert Smith from 'The Cure', complete with hair like Marge Simpson. In front of me was another male who, I would soon discover, would spend the entire game attempting to enter the 'Guinness Book of Records' for the loudest, most irritating and girly scream ever emitted by a male. It continued. The man three seats to my left was kitted out in full eye-liner and blusher. His male accomplice was wearing a blouse. There were at least thirty members of this group. Probably more. Yes, Nonthaburi have somehow established themselves as the club of choice for the androgynous community.

Don't get me wrong. I have no problem with anyone from any walk of life who supports the same team as me and is a decent person. The only annoyance was the aforementioned screamer who clearly had no knowledge or interest in football. My surprise was simply due to the change of personnel since my last visit to the Rama 9 Stadium and the humor at the thought of such crowd attending a game in England. What would the Brits make of it?

The usual Nonthaburi support was also in attendance though, in full voice to boot. Moreover, BCC bought the biggest away following -  including four farang fans (why don't you drop by and introduce yourselves guys?) - that I've ever seen for a D2 game. All this combined with Nonthaburi FC's quickly established reputation for being completely free of airs and graces - fans will attend barefoot, smoke, drink beer from glass bottles and eat off the terrace floor - made for a fun atmosphere.

Oh yeh, we won one-nil in a scrappy game. Sarawut Thasong scored in the second half and left Eka to ride their luck big time but just hold out for the win. The D2 Bangkok race is wide open.

The new crowd seems fun providing the drunks - of which there are always a few at Eka games - don't decide to get silly at some point in future. I don't see it happening, as Eka fans are as friendly as any other despite their manner. Then again I didn't expect trouble last time it happened, either.

*******

Meanwhile Rajpracha went down one-nil to Chantaburi. The 'Crowns' are due to face D1 leaders Air Force United next Sunday.