Friendly report and fixture updates

Nonthaburi went down at home to Suphanuri in a game that finished with a single goal to the visitors.

Eka looked disjointed and slow in the first half but a half time team shuffle saw them emerge refreshed and dangerous for the second forty five minutes. Players of note included no.8 Jelani Grant, whose distribution and fitness both looked excellent, player number twenty who looked like a lower league version of Teerasil Dangda with a similar physique and role to play. He looked two-footed and had an excellent fist touch, though his finishing was not of Teerasil standard. If it was, he wouldn't be with us! Finally, a farang player wearing no.15 put himself about very well indeed.

Overall, things look good. The coach clearly used these friendlies as a way of choosing his campaign squad as well as building player fitness. Although we lacked a little sharpness in front of goal today, I'm confident that we will be ready to hit the ground running with a strong promotion campaign when the season finally (and hopefully) starts in two weeks.

The opening fixtures are:

March 5 NSRU (h)
March 13 Mathaphut Marine FC (a)
March 20 Assumption Uni (h)
March 27 Kasetstart Uni (a)
April 2nd Samut Prakan Customs United (h)

I am not aware of the scheduled kick off times. Can anyone help?

Fixture news

Eka play another friendly at home against Suphanburi this Saturday. KO 1530.

A provisional fixture list for the delayed starting week of March 5t has been released. Details to follow.

Suphanburi 0 Rajpracha 1

 Photo credit: dreizehn at rajprachanonthaburi.com

Raj continued their impressive run with a one-nil away win at Suphanburi with a goal from no.26, Noppadol. The move puts Raj two points clear of the doomed bottom four.

More photos here.

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. 

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.