Sunday 19th March 2023 - BPL Div 2
Watch the highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaQlqhBnAiI
Another chapter in Futera United’s meteoric rise began when they made the trip to the Chibuna Arena for their opening fixture in the Bangkok Premier League division 2. The opponents for our opening day clash would be Chibuna FC who had made a steady start to the season with a draw and a win in their first two games.
Any thoughts that Futera United, looking resplendent in their new Gold away strip, might be overawed by playing division two football were quickly dispelled as they made a fast start taking the lead within the first 5 minutes. A neat ball from Baboo played in last season's top scorer Bank and the flying winger raced away from a static Chibuna defence to curl in a delightful right foot shot into the right hand corner to give the away team the lead. Futera were totally dominant, with Chibuna failing to gain a foothold in the game, and had numerous chances to put the game out of sight. Bank should have scored when again he cut in from the left flank only to blaze his shot over and Gael missed a couple of chances firing over after good work from Golf then hitting the bar with a neat header with Bew volleying the rebound inches wide. On the half hour mark Futera were caught by a sucker punch when a rare Chibuna foray into their opponents half saw there winger cut in from the left ride two tackles before firing in a low drive that went through a seas of legs and nestled in the bottom corner for an equaliser. Parity was restored on the stroke of half time when Futera’s constant pressure paid off when Aek received the ball on the edge of the box moved it onto his left foot and fired in a curling shot that went in under the Chibunha keeper’s body to give Futera a 2-1 lead their dominance deserved.
The second half followed the same pattern as the first period with Futera in total control and the game was killed off as a contest inside 10 minutes. Futera went close when Gael found space in the box but his downward header flew over the bar. Moments later the same player was put clean through on goal and his powerful shot was parried by the Chibuna keeper into the path of the lively Art who tapped the ball home into an empty net. In the 55th minute Gael got the goal his play deserved when he glided in from the left flank and beat the last defender before scoring with ease to make the score 4-1 to Futera. In the 61st the impressive Bew, drew a clumsy challenge from the Chibuna centre back in the box and a penalty was awarded. With regular penalty taker John having left the duty was handed only over to Gael who duly obliged, calmly converting from a short run up. With the homeside demoralized the game fizzled out as a contest and Futera toyed with their opponents playing the ball around with ease and added number 6 in the 87th minute when after good work from Katang Bew smashed home an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net. Credit to Chibuna who despite being outclassed never gave up and with the last kick of the game they scored to make the final score 6-2 to Futera.
An outstanding performance from Futera United who kicked off their campaign with a resounding victory. The team has improved since last season with added strength in depth. I thought Bew and Save were excellent in the midfield and Mark’s experience at the back will prove invaluable as the season goes on. Gael put in a solid performance and was rewarded for his efforts with a brace to get him up and running. I think this sends out a clear statement to the other teams in our division and we still have Evor and Tomalinho plus Phu to come back. Exciting times ahead for everyone involved with Futera United.
Another chapter in Futera United's meteoric rise began when they made the trip to the Chibuna Stadium for their opening fixture in the Bangkok Premier League Division 2. The opponents for our opening day clash would be Chibuna FC, who had made a steady start to the season with a draw and a win in their first two games.
Any thoughts that Futera United, looking resplendent in their new gold away strip, might be overawed by playing Division 2 football were quickly dispelled as they made a fast start, taking the lead within the first 5 minutes. A neat ball from Baboo played in last season's top scorer Bank, and the flying winger raced away from a static Chibuna defense to curl in a delightful right-foot shot into the right-hand corner to give the away team the lead. Futera were totally dominant, with Chibuna failing to gain a foothold in the game, and had numerous chances to put the game out of sight. Bank should have scored when again he cut in from the left flank, only to blaze his shot over, and Gael missed a couple of chances firing over after good work from Golf, then hitting the bar with a neat header, with Bew volleying the rebound inches wide. On the half-hour mark, Futera was caught by a sucker punch when a rare Chibuna foray into their opponents' half saw their winger cut in from the left, ride two tackles before firing in a low drive that went through a sea of legs and nestled in the bottom corner for an equalizer. Parity was restored on the stroke of halftime when Futera's constant pressure paid off. Aek received the ball on the edge of the box, moved it onto his left foot, and fired in a curling shot that went in under the Chibuna keeper's body to give Futera a 2-1 lead their dominance deserved.
The second half followed the same pattern as the first period, with Futera in total control, and the game was killed off as a contest inside 10 minutes. Futera went close when Gael found space in the box, but his downward header flew over the bar. Moments later, the same player was put clean through on goal, and his powerful shot was parried by the Chibuna keeper into the path of the lively Art, who tapped the ball home into an empty net. In the 55th minute, Gael got the goal his play deserved when he glided in from the left flank and beat the last defender before scoring with ease to make the score 4-1 to Futera. In the 61st, the impressive Bew drew a clumsy challenge from the Chibuna center-back in the box, and a penalty was awarded. With regular penalty-taker John having left the duty, it was handed only over to Gael, who duly obliged, calmly converting from a short run-up. With the home side demoralized, the game fizzled out as a contest, and Futera toyed with their opponents, playing the ball around with ease, and added number 6 in the 87th minute when, after good work from Katang, Bew smashed home an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net. Credit to Chibuna, who, despite being outclassed, never gave up, and with the last kick of the game, they scored to make the final score 6-2 to Futera.
An outstanding performance from Futera United, who kicked off their campaign with a resounding victory. The team has improved since last season with added strength in depth. I thought Bew and Save were excellent in the midfield, and Mark's experience at the back will prove invaluable as the season goes on. Gael put in a solid performance and was rewarded for his efforts with a brace to get him up and running. I think this sends out a clear statement to the other teams in our division and we still have Evor and Tomilinho plus Phu to come back. Exciting times ahead for everyone involved with Futera United.