Army United 1-1 Chainat

TPL new boys Chainat were held as Matius Recio's 82nd minute goal earned a share of the points for Army United.

Team line-ups

Thanakorn handed Chainat the lead in the 22nd minute as his sweetly struck free kick beat Kosin in the Army goal.

Bjorn Lindemann had a shot tipped around the post and the German also clipped the bar from a corner as the home side pressed for an equalizer before the interval.

In the second half, both keepers had to be alert to make crucial saves. Sarayoot was denied on 63 minutes when Panupong made a great save with his right foot after good build up play from the Army. About five minutes later, Kosin got his fingers to a Michael Byrne drive to knock it past the post to keep the Bangkok side in the contest.

With time running out, Army brought on their Argentinian striker, Matius, and within minutes the big man levelled as he beat the offside trap to notch his first goal in Army colors.

Chainat fans

Over the balance of play 1-1 was a fair result. Army fielded several new players and there were plenty of positives. Chainat certainly weren't overawed playing their first ever TPL game and showed that they will comfortably cope with the higher standard of football. Also a mention must go to the fantastic support that Chainat got from their fans. At a rough estimate I'd say they brought 2,500-3,000 down to the capital. Very impressive stuff!!

BBCU 0-1 Chainat

In the battle of the pinks, they away team wearing white took the honours courtesy of a goal scored by a man wearing pink.

Having watched plenty of Thai Port games recently, I could tell from the offset that this was going to be a low scoring game.

The first real chance of the game came midway through the first half for Chainat. Ex-Muangthong Utd midfielder, Kabfah, chipped a ball over over the BBCU back 4 into the path of Phuwadol, but Chainat's leading goalscorer fluffed his shot wide.

Phuwadol was replaced 10 minutes later by Michael Byrne which suggests the marksman might have been carrying an injury.

A minute before the break, a cross from the left was turned into his own net by BBCU's Kobenan Lion to give the Pink Rangers a 1-0 half time lead.

In the second half the Pink Power huffed and puffed trying to pierce Chainat's rearguard. They came close just after the break when Julius squared to Uwanaka in the box, but the Nigerian shot wide.

After that, the nearest BBCU came to scoring was in the 5th minute of injury time. Unfortunately for the home team Justin Prince headed wide when he should have at least hit the target.

Since the resumption of the second leg of the season, BBCU have played 7, won 2, drawn 3 and lost 2. That is mid-table form and will they be able to secure a TPL spot for next season playing like this? They probably will just about make it, but if this form continues they can forget about being league champions. BBCU play Songkla on Saturday and a win in that should be enough to guarantee them at least a third placed finish. A loss though, could see a nervous final third of the season for the Pink Power fans who bang those pink inflatable things together.

Attendance: 1,115