Sunday 7th August 2022 - 17:00pm Thailand / 11:00am BST / 10:00am GMT - BPL 4
Futera were back in BPL action against the only team who had managed to prevent their free flowing attack from scoring and this disciplined well drilled side would be a real test. The two new signings of Kao and Basil would both make their debuts and the NFT holders had voted for the reinvigorated Owen to keep his place at the heart of the defence alongside Tewit.
Futera made a bright start dominating possession and like the previous encounter, Siwilai were well organised with a compact shape and happy to sit back very deep. Kao was looking very sharp running the channels and in the 12th minute, after excellent work by the marauding John, his curling shot beat the keeper but flew inches over the bar. Futera continued to press and their efforts were rewarded when Gael pounced on a loose ball in the box to smash the ball into the roof of the net to open the scoring. The relief around the ground was palpable as we had finally managed to breach this stubborn defence after 112 minutes of football. With Basil a commanding presence in the centre of the midfield there was no let up from Futera and a thunderous drive from Jew struck the post before Phu should have scored from six yards but he blazed the ball over the bar. The half time whistle blew on an impressive Futera performance with the score 0-1.
Siwilai began the second half on the front foot and went close inside five minutes. An injury to Owen saw Basil move into the back four and Save take over the holding midfield role as Futera slowly began to once again take a stranglehold on the game. The impressive Phu began to influence the game and Futera went close through Bank. In the 67th minute after stellar work from Few down the left flank, the ball fell to Phu inside the box and he calmly sidestepped the keeper to double Futera’s lead. With tempers on both sides simmering there were a number of fierce challenges and the referee was struggling to keep control of the game. Steffan secured the three points for Futera when he drifted in from the right flank and curled in a tame low shot into the bottom corner which seemed to bamboozle the static Siwilai keeper. The young Futera team were now in complete control and played some excellent football and should have extended their league further. The final whistle blew on a convincing 0-3 victory for Futera who stormed to the top of the table.
Futera showed what a very good side they are against stubborn opposition and a hostile home crowd. Basil was outstanding and oozed class and composure while Kao injected pace and desire in that centre forward role and was very unlucky not to open his BPL scoring account. The resurgence of Few and Owen continues who were both impressive and it was nice to see Katang back in defence. Futera hit the top of the table and we are definitely now the team to beat. Roll on next weekend, the Futera journey keeps getting better and better.