10-man Phuket FC slumps to yet another defeat

PHUKET CITY: New team, same old result: Phuket FC slumped to their fifth-straight home defeat on Sunday in a disappointing 2-1 loss at Surakul Stadium.

The new-look Sea Dragons took the lead midway through the first half, but two Narathiwat goals either side of half-time consigned them to their sixth defeat in eight matches.

Expectations were high at the outset, as only two players remained from the original squad and the Sea Dragons had 15 new players, including five from Africa.

Phuket center forward Peka from Cameroon used his size advantage to head a corner kick across the goal mouth to Karanwatu Thongchim, who tapped it home to put the Sea Dragons up 1-0.

Narathiwat equalized after being awarded a free kick for an innocuous challenge on the edge of the Phuket box to even the score 1-1 going in to half-time.

In the second half, Phuket defender Sama-ann Poedok was sent off for a second bookable offense.

Narathiwat capitalized on some shoddy defending to go up 2-1 and held on for the win.

For a full account of the match, read the hard-copy version of the Phuket Gazette that hits newsstands on Saturday.

— James Goyder