Going into the match, both side’s 21st of the 26-fixture season, Phuket United with 34 points sat in sixth place of the 14-team Futsal Thailand Premier League (FTPL), while their opponents, the Nakhon Ratchasima “Super Cats” were in 7th with 28 points.
The last time the two sides met was back in May, when Nakhon Ratchasima won at home 2-0.
Phuket was prepared for the rematch, however, with Edson “Gugu” Silva (no 4) returning from a 3-match injury break nearly completing the Pearl’s A-team line-up, with the exception of Pathaya Simanta (no 14) and Kittipong Sonsuwan (no 17) serving suspensions.
Also on suspension for accumulating yellow cards, both of the Super Cats’ foreign gunners – Brazilian Bruno Fialho and Serbian Mr Darko Ristic – would have to watch their side play from the stands.
Dominating possession, Phuket took control of the match early on, employing attacking combinations complemented by fantastic defensive marking that yielded a number of counter-attacks throughout, many of which resulted in goals.
Phuket employed classical 4-0 and 1-3 fluid formations, which worked real well to stretch out Nakhon Ratchasima’s defense, as the Pearl went up 4-0 with goals by Jackson Santos on 7 minutes; Thanakorn Penpakul (no 9) on 9 minutes; Gugu on 11 minutes and Pubet Kongthong (no 21) on 15 minutes – all scored on the rapid counter-attack.
Finally, with 3 minutes left to play in the half, the visitors got a goal in through Nonthapun Phopeut (no 17) who scored on the second ball after an initial strike was blocked.
Just two minutes into the second half Phuket revived their scoring momentum with back to back goals, first by Anuwat Ponopha (no 15) with his right-foot one-on-one with the keeper, and then followed by Thanakorn scoring his second of the match from inside the area, cashing in on a beautiful assist from Suttiporn Kluncharoen (no 19) drawing his defensive marker towards goal line on the right flank.
Victory seemed certain, but the Super Cats weren’t ready to throw in the towel just yet, swapping their attacking keeper in for a power play formation, a decision that paid off in the 34th minute with a goal... And two more rapid goals by either side on 37 minutes, through Korat’s Manutwee Rattanawit (no 14), quickly answered by Phuket’s Anuwat... and two more for Phuket through Suttiporn Kluncharoen and Thanakorn "Max" Piyaprichayut (no 10).
With two minutes left on the clock, Thanakorn sealed the match with a hat trick as the scoreboard failed to register the double-digit scoreline, a first for the season.
Phuket now have two ballers in the race for golden boot, Jackson in 3rd with 20 goals, and Suttiporn in joint-fourth with 18 goals.
Thanks to the latest three points and surplus of seven goals bringing their goal difference tally to 19, Phuket ousted from 3rd place the Siam Navy club, who also have 37 points, but with a surplus of 16 goals.
Nonetheless, 4th placed Siam Navy and 5th placed Thai Port (36 points) each have a game in hand, so Phuket should not get too comfortable in their position, trailing 2nd placed Bangkok – with two games in hand – by three points, and runaway league leaders Chonburi by 19 points.
With only five matches remaining in the season the Andaman Pearl look ahead to a tough final bend, mostly uphill, as follows:
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August 23: Away to Siam Navy (Utd lost at home in May)
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August 29: Home to Thai Port (Utd lost away in April)
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September 5: Away to Chonburi (Utd drew at home in April)
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September 14: Home to Samut Prakarn (Utd won away in April)
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September 20: Away to Suratthani (Utd won at home in March)
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