However, Phuket FC Chairman Pamuke Achariyachai has affirmed his support for the head coach, and has appealed to fans to continue to support the team in their campaign to qualify for the Thai Premier League.
The Islanders had returned home to Surakul Stadium after a below-par away draw at Ayutthaya, to play Rayong FC, who were then placed 17th out of 18 teams in Thai Division One, with just five points and no wins after 10 games.
Phuket FC went into the game fifth in the league, with 17 points and four wins.
Rayong’s “Coach Mo” Apichat Mosika spent a few months coaching Phuket FC in 2011, and on Saturday returned to Surakul for the first time in two years.
“I know it is a bit ambitious for me to say, but I hope for three points from Phuket FC. But I will be happy if I don’t go home empty handed,” he told The Phuket News before the game.
Phuket FC’s Coach Paniphol put Kampol Pathom-akkakul on as goalkeeper, because Adisak Duangsri had injured both feet against Ayutthaya a week earlier.
The Phuket squad started out awkwardly, as many players had been shuffled to new positions. Yusuke Sato, usually played at centre-back alongside Nene Bi, was sent instead to play defensive midfielder in place of Assawin Boonman, who was pushed back to Sato’s normal position. Sakareya Kolea, a natural right wing back, went on as left wing back against Rayong because both of the team’s regular players in that position, Nontaphan and Thongchai, were unfit to play.
Geoffrey Doumeng appeared to be one of the few Phuket players holding his own – he created several opportunities for his teammates, but none seemed to get the ball much further forward than midfield. Dudu was marked as tightly as always, and he became increasingly frustrated with the passing minutes.
After half an hour, Doumeng’s experience and perseverance paid when he dribbled the ball past a Rayong defender into their penalty area, before he was tripped from behind and fell face first. The referee showed the Rayong player the yellow card without hesitation and pointed straight to the penalty spot.
Doumeng got up to take the penalty himself. Rayong FC’s Phuket-born goalkepper Lueacha Jantawong dove to his left for a save, but Doumeng aimed for inside the right post and put Phuket ahead 1-0.
The visitors couldn’t take the game forward for the rest of the first half – their only attempt hit the crossbar and bounced wide, and the half ended with a one goal advantage to the home side.
Dudu had been limping in the first half, and in the second half he was taken off and replaced by Giorgi Tzimakuridze. The Georgian soon caused trouble for Rayong, skipping through their defense early in the second half before sneaking through an offside trap to clip a pass from Doumeng with his right foot, over the goalkeeper’s reach and into the net.
With the score at 2-0 only five minutes into the second half, Phuket looked almost assured of a victory and many of the roughly 4,000 Phuket fans packed into Surakul expressed their satisfaction.
But with nothing left to lose, the Rayong players put their all into the game and were rewarded with their first goal about 10 minutes later, when their Ivorian player Walther Henri scored amid chaotic scenes in front of Phuket’s goal after a corner kick.
At this point Phuket’s Coach Paniphol decided to replace Sato with Suthee Sakdiwong, in the hope of maintaining Phuket’s slender one-goal lead.
But Phuket would not be celebrating any victory. When the referee called five minutes additional time, Phuket slacked a little when Rayong took a throw-in from the right sideline in the home-side’s half.
The ball was lobbed into Phuket’s penalty box, where a Rayong player headed the ball in front of keeper Kampol, who dove for the ball which Nene Bi and Giorgi held off for him to save.
But Kampol was a fraction of a second too late, and Rayong striker Nuttawut Khamrin hit the ball with the outside of his left foot, beating Kampol and giving the visitors an equaliser just seconds before the final whistle.
Many Phuket fans couldn’t believe what they had just witnessed, and some took it out on Coach Panipol – shouting and chanting “okk pai” (get out) for nearly 10 minutes after the match ended.
Phuket FC Chairman Pamuke said after the match that he understood the fans expectations, and recognised their right to speak out when a win had slipped through their grasp. But he said negative feedback would only break the team’s spirit and discourage them further.
He said that he personally suffered the heaviest burden when Phuket FC lost a game, but he that he would still fight on. And he expressed hope that the Phuket fans would never give up on team in their quest for promotion to the Thai Premier League.
The Phuket News is the official media partner for Phuket FC, and publishes the official Match Guide now available at each home game for just B10.