So the TPL stuttered back to life again this weekend and showed it has lost none of its ability to appeal, surprise and make us a laugh. In fact, all three attributes were in abundance at the PAT stadium where the match between Pattaya and Thai Port was meant to be played behind closed doors after crowd trouble between the two sets of fans. Those doors weren’t particularly well shut though, as despite the claims of other media outlets, there was a sizeable crowd on hand to see Pattaya perform a snatch and grab job and head back home with all three points. 

Port could feel a little hard done by having the lion’s share of the possession, but they were forced to pay for a number of squandered chances, including a missed penalty by the otherwise lively Worawut Wangsawad. In the end, two well taken break away goals in the final minutes of the first half, including a fantastic finish from Gabriel Obatola, proved decisive for Pattaya. While we were glad off the opportunity of getting to see a game, we have to question the wisdom of closing three quarters of the stadium and putting all the fans into stand. Surely it would make sense to keep home and away fans with a record of fighting apart, not lump them together into a more confined space than normal?

It was an equally depressing restart to the TPL for the other two Bangkok teams involved in a truncated round of fixtures. Army United went down 1-0 away to Sri Racha, while on Sunday TOT lost an exciting bottom of the table clash away to Khon Kaen FC. Khon Kaen took a 2 goal lead only for TOT to draw level, but two late, late goals saw the home side run out 4-2 winners. The result seems them leapfrog TOT who now sink into the relegation places. Talking of sinking, the game between Chiangrai United and Siam Navy was, a little ironically, suspended due to a water logged pitch, while Sisaket beat Samut Songkhram 2-0 in the only other fixture.