Air Force 2-1 Rayong United

Thupathemi Stadium

Air Force beat 9 man Rayong United to claim their sixth straight win and their fifth consecutive 2-1 victory.

The current Division 1 leaders appeared to be heading for a comfortable home win with two goals scored in the first 30 minutes.

The first came midway through the first half when a short corner was crossed into the box for Supphakorn to nod home after the Rayong Utd defence failed to clear the initial danger.

On the half hour, a ball cut in from the left by Julius Oiboh was knocked into his own net by Pasawee.

The away side's best effort of the half came five minutes before the break when Cunningham scooped out a goal bound Valci Junior header on the goal line.

The second half was on the verge of dying a death until the introduction of David le Bras from the Rayong Utd bench shortly after the hour.

Within a minute, the broody Frenchman had split the Air Force central defence with a precise ball to set up Wuttiphan to pull one back.

The Elephant Warrior's fight back was on and Valci Junior twice brought out good saves from Samuel Cunningham as the home side nervously held on to their slender lead.

In the 80th minute, Rayong United were reduced to ten men when Chatchai received a second yellow card.

That seemed to take the impetus out of the guests, and as full time was approaching they were effectively knocked out as Wittaya was given a straight red for a hack at Kouassi Hermann.

The Airmen's victory saw them move six points clear at the top and despite not looking entirely convincing, they have a healthy lead at to kick on and claim a TPL spot.

Rayong United need to improve at the back as they conceded a couple of sloppy goals today. With Valci Junior in the side, they always look like scoring and keeping the Brazilian fit will be vital to their survival bid.

Man of the Match: Valci Junior - a constant threat

Bangkok FC 4-3 Rayong United

Bangkok FC edged a seven goal thriller against Rayong United to move within two points of the Top Three.

A Lee Tuck double in the first 35 minutes appeared to have the home side on easy street. The Englishman's first came when he converted a rebound after Olof Watson had hit the post, and the second was a 40 yard free kick which nestled in the bottom right hand corner of the net.

At this point of the game it appeared it was just a case of how many the Iron Bulls would score. However, five minutes before the break, Naratip, in the Bangkok FC goal, spilled a Valci Junior free kick which was then knocked in by Prainet to give Rayong United some hope.

Five minutes after the break, Valci Junior was allowed far too much space to roll the ball into the net before Wuttiphan made it 3-2 to the Elephant Warriors. Naratip wasn't brave enough to block Wuttipan's run and his weak attempt allowed the Rayong midfielder the opportunity to put the away side into the lead.

Valci Junior could have made it 4-2 but he scooped over the target while Samuel Danquah's header clipped the top of the crossbar bar as the hosts pressed to get back into the game.

With about 10 minutes remaining, that pressure paid off when a long free kick was headed goalwards by Olof Watson into the top corner of the net.

The momentum was firmly with Bangkok and with three minutes left on the clock a low Watson cross was swept home by Samuel Danquah to win the three points for the Bulligans. 

At the end of the game, Rayong United would have been hugely disappointed to have scored three away goals, yet come away with nothing. I'm sure Bangkok FC would be delighted with the way that they fought back to win, but they will be slightly concerned at how easily they conceded the three goals.


Man of the Match: Lee Tuck - Another brace for the hard working front man