Small sections of the home crowd, visibly unhappy with some of the refereeing decisions and the constant time wasting and play acting antics of the visiting team, took to throwing bottles and cans onto the field of play in protest.
The aggressive reaction by some of the home fans marred what had been, despite the result, a thrilling cup tie as both sides scored three goals apiece over the course of 120 minutes, on Wednesday (August 25) evening.
Watcharapong Jang-nam gave FC Phuket the lead right before half time, leveling the tie at 1-1 before an astonishing 30-minute period of extra time saw five goals – three for Phatthalung and two for FC Phuket – as the visitors secured a 4-3 aggregate win much to the delight of their travelling support.
On the back of their first away league win at the weekend and bolstered by the return of some of their more senior players, FC Phuket went into the match full of confidence that they could overturn the one goal deficit from the first leg.
Despite being away from home and plying their wares a division below it was Phatthalung who made the early running, testing FC Phuket goalkeeper Matijas a number of times from a variety of distances and angles.
The home side weathered the early storm and began to take control of the game midway through the first half, and the Kirin were denied what appeared to be a clear cut penalty when Sarach Yooyen’s free kick was blocked by a Phatthalung defender’s arm.
All FC Phuket players, fans and officials appealed for the penalty only for it to be turned down by the referee.
With just moments remaining in the second half, Watcharapong gave the home side the lead, running onto a through ball in the box and beating the goalkeeper from a tight angle.
In the second 45 minutes both sides created openings but were unable to convert so the game headed into extra time.
During the regulation 90 minutes, Phatthalung had threatened but never really caused Matijas too many problems in the FC Phuket goal.
That changed within two minutes of extra time when a Phatthalung free kick was allowed through the wall and was helped into the net by the goalkeeper.
The home side responded immediately when substitute Tamazee Hayeeyousoh fired home after Kone Adama muscled his way into the box but eight minutes later FC Phuket trailed on aggregate again.
Puttiman Keawchin was found unmarked in the box as the Kirin pushed forward for a third goal and although his first effort was stunningly saved by Matijas, he kept his composure to bag the rebound.
As time ticked down in extra time the visitors’ time wasting antics drew the wrath of the home fans whose night took a turn for the worst when a calamitous own goal sealed the tie for Phatthalung.
There was still time for one more goal when Arwut Nuchet bundled the ball home from close range but it was too little too late.
After the final whistle had blown the home fans reacted poorly to the result and began hurling missiles onto the pitch in a display of petulant behavior not welcome in football.
The antics of a small section of the crowd left a nasty taste in the mouth after what had been a thrilling topsy-turvy cup tie.
- Photo by Pongpisit Raksaket