Nonthaburi FC 3 Samut Prakan Utd 0

Whoever on the Nonthaburi FC side struck the deal with MTU to act as a  nursery club is responsible for a huge turnaround at the club.

Toni lines up a volley

It’s not just on-pitch performances that have changed. The crowd at this game was the largest I’ve seen and though the vast majority were in Eka colours, there were Phuket FC and plenty of Muangthong shirts, too. The substitutes wore MTU training tops and the whole set-up has a slightly larger feel to it.

But it’s the pitch that counts and without taking any credit away from a good team performance, there’s no doubt which players made the difference today. SP Utd actually made the brighter start and crafted several good chances but once the Nonthaburi attacking line got started, they ran the show. Jorrin John made a powerful run to set up Alassane for the first goal, Tomi latched on to a superb through ball for the second and Eka’s third goal came again from Alassane after a great run and cross from Nathagun (another MTU youth player) and a lovely little touch from Toni.

Jorrin John - Not easy to shake off the ball

In the second half the side sat back a little though even when SP Utd had chances, they took them very poorly. Towards the end of the game there were incidents that have been edited out in the video below, there were two scuffles in injury time which then sparked one of the most hilarious ‘rage off’ competitions between two coaches I’ve ever seen. Both sets of fans behaved impeccably throughout.

This is the first season ever that Eka have looked likely to score more than once in a game. The distribution and intelligence in the play of the squad has also improved and it would be wrong to give sole credit to the MTU imports of Toni, Alassane and John, but they are certainly the catalyst.

Samut Parakan overcame us with ease last season and were level with us before this game.  This time they were dispatched with relative ease in a ten minute spell of the best attacking football I’ve seen at RL level. At the start of the season I said that Nonthaburi fans would be happy just to have a team, and anything else would be a bonus. This is one heck of a bonus.
Photo credits: Nhong Tim

Opening game lost, new shirts

siamsport.co.th

Eka lost their opening game of 2013 away to Samut Prakan Utd in a Toyota League Cup match. The score was 0 - 2.

Samut Prakan were among the early frontrunners for promotion last season so there is no shame in this defeat. Besides, the away fans were just delighted to have a club and the new squad were looking to gel.

The new squad and new home strip can be seen here.

..and a  preview of the away kit can be seen here:

I love the home kit, though I do wonder what the point was of producing a home kit well over halfway through last season was if it's not being used again. The away kit I think would be fine if we didn't try to keep the club's traditional purple colour on the crest. It clashes with the other colours. I'll probably end up buyiong both though.

Kick off

Eka are ready to begin their new lease of life with an away trip to Samut Prakan United in the TLC Cup this weekend. The league kicks off the following week, at home to Assumption.

Samut Prakan United 2 Nonthaburi FC 0 - Report

Eka crashed at Samut Prakan United in a game that was memorable for all the wrong reasons.

Nonthaburi started well with Ryan Reece finding space on the left wing, but it became clear that the referee was not going to allow any tackles or challenges that were not standing or that involved any form of shoulder contact whatsoever. This pushed the game into a scrappy, stop-start affair and exacerbated our season-long problem of having lots of the ball but very little punch in front of goal.

The game was effectively decided in a short, second half spell. After blowing his whistle three times in about fifteen seconds of open play, the ref awarded a free kick to SPU that they scored from. Eka staff protested strongly that it was offside but I don't think it was.

Shortly after, our number 25 (Surachat) performed a very badly-timed but totally innocent sliding challenge on a SPU winger. The contact looked very light but of course the winger threw himself down like he'd been shot and the referee appallingly gave a straight red card to Surachat. The home side scored their second goal later. I thought the final pass was a forward pass, which would render it offside. I guess the linesman disagreed.

This contest was effectively decided by a referee who looked to be incompetent and insecure in equal measure. It's a frequent problem that the Thai FA needs to solve. Too many officials compensate for their nerves by blowing their whistle every five seconds. This produces a scrappy, dull game of football and defeats the whole point of anyone being there.

But still, questions need to be asked at the club if we are to rescue our rapidly-fading play off hopes. Why did we sign no strikers when the problem has been screamingly obvious for ages? Why do so many of our players look capable but get tired earlier than the opposition? Why play the same formation that fails to produce many goals at the best of times when we are two goals and a man down? Why not just throw an extra man (Sathit or Prasop) forward and take a chance? Why be so inflexible?

On a positive note though, big credit to all the players who refused to give up even when two goals, one man and one rubbish referee were the odds against them. Both sets of fans enjoyed the day and thanks to the home fans who made us feel welcome.
We won't give up.