Going into the match, Sukhothai were in 8th place and a win could have bumped them up to third, and this possibility was certainly on back of the Firebats’ minds as they pushed with strong attacking fronts early in the game.
Slowly but surely, Phuket found their rhythm and it was clear that their short passing game has improved dramatically over the last month.
The ice was finally broken on 35 minutes by the Ronins’ leading scorer Ndebi Berlin, who drove the ball home with his right food from near the right post, inches from the goal line, cashing in on a header-assist by Andres Lopes.
Phuket FC came out of the locker rooms in attack mode, and sealing up a defensive vulnerability with the absence of Center Back Yusuke Sato, who sat out with an injury – Manager Benz fielded new Australian signing Trent James Mcclenahan, who showed fair chemistry with Samsen Nima and Moussa Sylla to shut out a handful of Sukhothai fronts.
Seven minutes into the half, Berlin scored his second of the match – and 9th in the season – beating two defenders and the keeper near the left goal post, this time with his left foot on the near post.
Berlin nearly scored a hat trick on a number of tries, and even junior midfielder Pratan Senala had a go, regretfully missing an open shot and chance to put his side up 3-0.
The Fire Bats’ top scorer, towering Brazilian striker Felippe Ferreira (16 goals) was effectively marked out of the game, and realizing his ineptness against a solid Phuket line, was finally pulled out, all but eliminating any serious Sukhothai threat.
Sukhothai were clearly having difficulty finding their rhythm, with a number of new key players on their roster, including towering forward from Ghana, Bouba Abbo, as well as aggressive Japanese defender Katano Hiromichi, who despite the scoreline, had constantly made Phuket players nervous.
Two double-yellow red cards were issued to both sides midway through the second half – first to Phuket’s Patipat Amantantri (no 25) who was finally called out for what the referee deemed as "diving" in the area – and then moments later to Sukhothai’s Nunthaphon Piboonphon (no 36), who was ejected for an aggressive touchline tackle of Phuket’s Lopes.
Phuket’s third and final goal surprised Phuket players and fans just as much as it did Sukhothai’s, when in the final minute of regulation play, Alef Poji took a free kick quickly, while Sukhothai’s keeper was off his line, unprepared for the ball that pierced the back of the net.
Despite protests by Sukhothai players, the goal was allowed by the referee and even though four minutes of injury time was given, it was clear that Sukhothai and their contingent of some 100 orange-clad fans would be heading home without any points from Surakul.
Phuket now have 27 points, enough to keep them in 14th place just ahead of the six-team relegation zone.
Still with 29 points, Sukhothai immediately dropped one spot into 9th place, but may fall further depending on results tonight, namely in matches between Krabi and Songkhla (10th with 29 points), and Chiangmai (20th) vs BBCU (11th with 29 points).
Following are all Yamaha League One results and remaining fixtures this weekend:
August 1 results
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Phuket 3-0 Sukhothai
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Airforce 2-1 PTT Rayong
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Ayuthaya 1-2 Pichit
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Police Utd 1-1 Samut Songkhram
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Bangkok 2-0 Nakhon Pathom Utd
August 2 fixtures
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Chiangmai vs BBCU
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Pattaya Utd vs Thai Honda
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Prachuap vs Trat
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TTM vs Angthong
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Krabi vs Songkhla
Phuket now hit the road with three away matches – on August 9 against PTT Rayong; August 15 vs Thai Honda and August 19 vs Pattaya Utd – before returning home to take on Airforce on August 23.
The Phuket News and Class Act Media are proud media partners with Phuket FC.