Thai FA Cup Round 1 Results

Air Force 0-1 Phuket
Bangkok FC 2-1 Ang Thong
BBCU 5-0 Lampang
Nakhon Pathom Utd 2-2 Nonthaburi (4-5 pens)
Nakhon Ratchasima 4-0 Chachoengsao
Narathiwat Utd 1-1 Siam Navy (2-3 pens)
Phatthalung 1-0 Samut Sakhon
Prachuab 3-1 Ayutthaya
PTT Rayong 2-0 Rayong Utd (AET)
Rayong FC 2-1 Sriracha
Samut Prakan Utd 1-2 Khon Kaen
Singh Tarua 8-1 Thai Honda
Trat 2-1 Krabi
TTM 2-0 Saraburi

Bunyajinda Stadium

I was at the TTM v Saraburi tie to witness TTM's first victory of the 2013 season. Vigan latched onto a through ball from the middle of the park to open the scoring before a Aleksander free kick sealed the contest midway through the second half. Narongsak should have done better with his first half effort and Julio Ceser came close in the second for Saraburi, but overall it was a deserved win for TTM.
Phatthalung, Nonthaburi and Prachuab are the only three regional league sides left in the competition. The Swiftlets edged out Samut Sakhon 1-0 while Prachuab sent struggling Ayutthaya packing with a 3-1 victory. Nonthaburi eventually prevailed after a penalty shoot out saw them oust Nakhon Pathom.
Heavy home victories for Singh Tarua and BBCU somewhat highlighted the difference between the grades as Thai Honda and Lampang were trounced.

Saraburi 1-2 Singh Tarua

Paying respects

Saraburi thought they'd snatched a precious point when Bernard Henry levelled in the 90th minute only for Tossapol Yodchan to spoil the party moments later as Singh Tarua made it three wins out of three with a 2-1 victory.

The first half was a rather quiet affair by comparison with Sing Tarua controlling possession while Saraburi were content to use the pace of their wide men on the counter attack.

The best chance in the opening 45 minutes came to Leandro after Sarawut had set him up following a probing run down the right flank. The Brazilian though, pulled his shot narrowly wide from Sarawut's cut back.

The same combination was involved for the opening goal, but this time it was Leandro setting up the wide man. Leandro flicked the ball through the Saraburi back line to an offside Christen who left it for Sarawut to burst through from an onside position to open the scoring in the 51st minute.

Ri Myong Jun had been relatively quiet, but he had a great chance to double the lead midway through the second half. The Muangthong loanee's poor pass cannoned off a Saraburi defender kindly back into his path, yet with a one on one with the keeper, he shot straight at him.

Five minutes later, Saraburi hit the post after a weak punch from Watchara was knocked back into the mix and in the melee that followed, Henry hit the post.

As the assistant referee was set to lift the board indicating five minutes of injury time, Saraburi equalized. Henry beat Termchai to the ball in the middle of the park and the Ivorian ran through on goal to slot home.

However, it was the guests who grabbed the three points when substitute Tossapol Yodchan "bent it like Beckham" from 25 yards out in the 93rd minute to win the game.

Singh Tarua's last gasp goal means that they've won three out of three with all of the games being played on the road. The Khlong Toei side top the table and are seemingly on their way to an instant return to the TPL.

Saraburi look to me like a mid-table side, but if they could improve with their final ball into the box, then a top half finish could be achieved.

Man of the Match: Sarawut Kongjareon - Scored the opening goal and was lively down the flanks


Attendance: 2,042

BBCU 1-0 Saraburi

Malick Ndape's goal kept BBCU looking odds on for promotion from Division 1 as Saraburi FC were narrowly defeated.

Team Line-ups

The first half was probably one of the worst I've seen since the infamous Germany v Austria second half way back in the 1982 World Cup in Spain.

Offside!!

Saraburi thought they had taken the lead on the hour mark but their goal was ruled out for offside by the assistant referee.

As the game looked to be heading out to a goalless stalemate, BBCU moved ahead when a long free kick into the box wasn't collected by the Saraburi keeper and Malick was on hand to strike the ball into the net.

That was it as far as the action went and BBCU held on to the lead to maintain their 12 point lead over 4th place PTT Rayong.

Overall it was a disappointing game, and from what I saw tonight, BBCU would need to seriously invest in the squad if they have any chance to survive in the TPL next season.

One positive thing from tonight was the weather. Evening football in December is cool and pleasant to sit in for spectators. It's also nice not to have to attend the match with a raincoat awaiting the inevitable downpour that we see between May to October. I'm certainly in favour of the Thai football season being played outwith the rainy season.