Nothing to Declare: Port FC 0-0 MOF Customs Utd

MOF Customs Utd rolled into Port this evening for a mid-season friendly, and whilst it was almost completely uneventful, it was the best game seen at the PAT since the 2-1 win over Police Tero in April.

Port lined up without any first team, or indeed second team, regulars in an ambitious, experimental 0-0-0 formation, whilst Customs started with a 0-0-0-0 shape clearly inspired by Muangthong’s performance against Kawasaki Frontale the previous evening.

In the first half little of note occurred, though the crowd were entertained on the 27-minute mark by the arrival of some dark-coloured birds, possibly crows, who spent several minutes foraging, with varying degrees of success, around the centre circle for food. 0-0 at half time was a fair reflection of the balance of play and Customs in particular would’ve been glad of the break.

The second half was little better, with neither team creating anything significant, or indeed insignificant, and the 90-minute mark was welcomed by both members of the crowd, or would’ve been, had they not already been on the BTS home.

The crowd celebrate Port’s best home performance since April

But this was an encouraging performance by Port, with all players coming through unscathed by injury and the team notching up their first home clean sheet since 3 April. Reasons for optimism as we approach the second half of the season.

Man of the Match: Tana

The moustachioed folk singer and occasional footballer was nowhere near the pitch tonight, and indeed it is highly probable that he had left the stadium long before the 5pm kickoff time; as such this was his finest performance of 2017 and we hope we will see him in this role more often as the season progresses.

Tim Russell

The founder and editor of The Sandpit, Tim has been in SE Asia since 2003 and in Bangkok since 2012, where he runs a travel tech business. Tim has followed Port FC since 2014, and is also a fan of his hometown club Coventry City, and French club AS St-Etienne. He has written for the likes of Football365, ITV.com, NME and The Quietus, and is a regular contributor to God Is In the TV. He's a keen photographer and his work can be seen on his website.