Assumption Thonburi 1 Nonthaburi FC 1 - report

After a disappointing nil-one defeat at home last week, Eka were handed a surprisingly quick chance for redemption when this game was switched from Thonburi to Eka's home of Wat Boat, presumably due to water-logging at Thonburi's stadium. It was still officially listed as a home game for Thonburi and Eka fans were placed in the away section of the Stadium.

Nonthaburi took the lead with a neat finish by 31. Theerapong following some one touch football in the first half. Thonburi equalised later with a clear-cut penalty decision that was duly converted. This was the only downer of the game for goalie Manop, who played his first fixture of the season despite being the best goalie we have in my opinion.

Towards the end of the game Eka started to push harder, causing one Thonburi player to throw himself down and play dead. At this point their stretcher man announced to the ref that he was coming on to the pitch and strolled on before waiting for the ref's permission. Said ref was too nervous to respond. This moment really summed up the officials in this game and indeed many of the problems with officials in Thailand, period.

So the game ended 1-1. It was an enjoyable contest despite having the feel of an end of season encounter between mid-table teams with nothing left to play for, which is what it was.

We now head towards the end of the season, though we still have a home game with champions Kasetstart to look forward to. Soon it will be time to look back at an enjoyable if slightly disappointing season and think about what changes need to be made for 2012. There's no doubt we have quality players in the likes of Manop, Janewit ("on loan") Prasop, Korawut, Grant, Reece, and Sathit and the whole squad look motivated.

So what, then, is the reason for the lack of play-off push? Clearly, goals have been a problem and this was screamingly obvious before the mid-season transfer window, and was not addressed when the window opened. What we did do in the window was allow Janewit - by far our best defender - to go and failed to replace him, even allowing another quality defender in Soloman to walk away.

There are other questions: our players are true professionals yet appear to tire earlier than other teams, they play at their best when playing by instinct (when losing or under pressure) rather than following a game plan and substitutions appear random and rarely involve a tactical switch. Who is responsible for this? Surely it's the coach. If we want next season to be different, we need to take a serious look at the staff set-up. Still whatever happens, the players will have the loyal fans of the "Rookery" to cheer them on.

Nonthaburi 0 Assumption Thonburi 1

If Eka got lucky against NSRU in the previous home game, that luck took back its debt in yesterday's nil - one defeat against Assumption Thonburi.

Yet again, new signings - Reece, Solomon and Grant - were forced to sit out. But Nonthaburi created no less than three good chances within the first five minutes but could not capitalise. Perhaps it made them complacent because about ten minutes later, Assumption's striker sneaked in behind the back line and scored a soft goal with a gentle finish.

The rest of the first half was even but the second half was almost all one-way traffic. But over and over again Nonthaburi wasted several chances either by completely skying longs shots or simply poor positioning of the strikers. The highly-anticipated new signing from Belgium, Camara Muhammed, had a particularly disappointing game and looks short on fitness nd confidence.

In injury time, Eka's goalkeeper came up for a corner and so nearly scored a tap in that was stop by a lunging foot of Assumption's goalie.

So 0 - 1 it finished, Eka can take heart from their possession football in the second half but are crying out for a poacher, or at least for Muhammed to find his form. It's also very frustrating for the new signing to be sat in the stands with supporters when everyone can see how much they are needed on the pitch. The Eka coach also needs to get a clear idea of who his first team are, get them fit and get them to work on their off-the-ball movement, too many players seemed content just to roam in a circle rather than look at the bigger picture. Here's hoping for an improvement away to Kesetstart.

On a brighter note, here is the squad for this season:

Eka Vs Assumption Thonburi promo

This Sunday, KO@1700
This clip shows Prasop's excellent goal against NSRU.