TFFC Mens A Division Thai Waterfront Tigers vs Tinonee Eagles
The Tigers slumped to an embarrassing loss to cellar dwellers Tinonee on Saturday, opening the door for fifth placed Green Point Rovers to pinch a semi-finals berth if they want it. On a dangerously slippery
pitch at Nabiac the Eagles started the better without troubling the Tigers stand-in keeper Kev Chapman, and as the first half wore on the Tigers began to gain control of the match. At least seven clear cut
chances to score were spurned by the Tigers though, with the Eagles keeper having an easy time of it as most of the Tigers efforts went straight at him, or wide of the mark. Joey Amato, Mitch Minors and
Supharat Saensuk were combining well to cause the Tinonee defence all sorts of trouble, with Matt Cheers, almost lost in the mud down the right flank, sending over some dangerous crosses that unfortunately went unfinished. Matt Thompson limped off with a knee injury early in the half and was unable to continue, and this perhaps should have been recognised as a bad omen for the Tigers, who were already thin on the bench. The second half started well for the Tigers, and some sharp lead up play saw Mitch Minors run at the defence, beat three
players and then leave the keeper helpless as he put the Tigers in front. Shortly after this the Tigers lost Jonathon Newman with a hamstring strain, and amidst the reshuffling slack marking saw Tinonee equalise with their first real chance on goal. As the Tigers pressed to take the lead back, Mitch Minors went down heavily, injuring his shoulder and was also unable to continue. Tinonee pressed an extra man forward and once again very poor marking saw an extra man in the box, and Tinonee took the lead, with only their
second shot on target. Great chances to equalise for the Tigers followed with Supharat Saensuk, Matt Dowie and Andrew Couch all going close, but not close enough. Matt Cheers then limped off with cramp,
others ran out of steam and it was no surprise that a very tired miscued clearance allowed Tinonee to put away a third. More Tigers chances to score followed, but typical of this season so far, were not converted. Adam Cheers was players player again, and Matt Cheers took out the coaches award. With both Cheers unavailable next weekend, and Thompson, Ireland, Newman and Minors all in doubt it will be a heavily reshuffled lineup that takes on the runaway Pacific
Palms next week. At the end of the game the shots on goal count was Tigers 16, Tinonee 4, but the final score read Tigers 1, Tinonee 3.
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