Pattaya United 1 City U21 1
Report by John Fox
The game was played at Thai Premier League side Pattaya United's small Nongprue Stadium, situated in East Pattaya adjoining the picturesque Wat Suthawat Temple. It had been a scorching sunny day and the game was played in hot, dry conditions. The formalities began at 5-45 p.m with speeches mainly in Thai by the mayor of Pattaya, the Pattaya United chairman and the Leicester City chairman.
The officials led the teams out in front of a reasonable crowd for the perfectly observed Thai National Anthem. The game was announced as Leicester City U. 21's against the full Pattaya United team who included experienced Thai international central defender Nireat in their ranks. City also had senior players Conrad Logan and Martin Waghorn in their starting line up.
Pattaya started very strongly and scored in the opening minute, a fine finish from the edge of the box giving Logan no chance. This set the scene for most of the first half with Pattaya looking much the livelier side, playing neat attacking football with Leicester looking a bit lethargic following their exploits in Hong Kong and probably finding the climate difficult. Pattaya deservedly went in at half time with a 1-0 lead.
Little did we know what was to follow in the second half. I'm not sure where they found the energy from but suddenly we were watching a different game. City attacked from the start and completely dominated the game. From being in charge Pattaya were now restricted to odd breaks.
Leicester were playing some super football, forcing the Pattaya goalkeeper into a number of excellent saves, also hitting the woodwork twice. Leicester introduced substitute Harry Panayiotou for the final fifteen minutes and just as it looked as if their fine performance would end in defeat, it was he who scored with a neat finish after more good play to produce a much deserved equaliser in the closing seconds.
With three added minutes Leicester went for the winner and in the final minute a great long range strike smacked the underside of the crossbar but not over the line as it came down before the final whistle sounded. There had been so much to admire about the second half performance, especially an exciting display by 17 year old attacking midfielder Pierre Larrauri
The evening finished with an exchange of club shirts between the two chairmen, presentation of a lovely trophy to be shared by the two teams which Conrad Logan received for Leicester, and distribution of souvenirs by the Leicester players to a very appreciative crowd.
To sum up a super night for us ex-pat supporters and the local Thais, Great credit to the Kingpower Group and Pattaya United for an evening that can only enhance LCFC's growing reputation here in Thailand.
City squad: Cian Bolger, Conor Brennan, Shane Byrne, Tom Hopper, Joey Jones, Pierre Larrauri, Conrad Logan, Liam Moore, Harry Panayiotou, Tom Parkes, Alie Sesay, Steven Smith, Martyn Waghorn.
The views expressed in this report are the opinions of the Trust member nominated to file the report only and do not represent the views of the Foxes Trust organisation