The heat was not to blame for the result, but rather the difficulty of finding training facilities, Taichung Futuro manager Henry Vom said in an interview yesterday two days after his team drew 3-3 against lowly AC Taipei in the Taiwan Football Premier League.
Taichung on Sunday were at home against AC Taipei in a frantic game, with the visitors twice fighting back to share the points in a six-goal thriller.
Within four minutes of kick-off, Taipei striker Lee Tsung-yang sprinted down the right flank and the Taichung defense failed to close him down.
Photo courtesy of the CTFA
Lee blasted an angled shot that eluded goalkeeper Pan Wen-chieh.
Coming into the game, the unfancied AC Taipei in seven outings had lost six with only one win, over bottom-placed Ming Chuan University. In their previous encounter against Taichung in May, they lost 5-1.
Haitian striker Benchy Estama seemed ready to keep that recent history going. He got past two defenders and fired home on 20 minutes to level the scores.
The league has three-minute water breaks — at the half-hour mark in the first half and at the 75-minute mark in the second — due to the hot weather.
After the first water break, Estama lifted Taichung into the lead, converting a penalty in the 38th minute.
Taipei responded right away, attacking down the left side four minutes later. Midfield dynamo Tsai Meng-cheng supplied a pass-back for 18-year-old Wu Pei-shi to smash into the net.
After the break, Taichung went in front again from a corner, with fullback Chen Ting-yang knocking in a header to make it 3-2.
However, the Taipei players were relentless. Ten minutes from fulltime, they penetrated the Taichung backline to allow forward Huang Sheng-chieh to slot home from close range.
Taipei’s Japanese goalkeeper Kenshin Katata made crucial saves to ensure that the points were shared.
Vom told the Taipei Times yesterday that his team’s defense and goalkeeper could have done better on the two long-range goals, but his team have been unable to train on a regulation pitch for some time, while Taichung City Government and league officials have not helped.
“We had players training at around noon, because they are professionals and are adjusting to the hot weather, but we could only train on an eight-player pitch, which is much smaller,” Vom said. “It affects our positioning on defense, while the goalkeeper needs to shift his judgement of distances and angles.”
“The smaller pitch affects the whole team and our tactics,” he said. “Hopefully, the Taichung City Government can look at this problem, as we represent the city in Taiwan’s top soccer competition.”
In Sunday’s other games, there was again late drama, with hosts Hang Yuan missing out on a win at Fu Jen Catholic University in New Taipei City against defending champions Tainan-TSG.
Ivorian striker Ange Samuel thumped in a header for TSG in the 24th minute.
Hang Yuan answered on the half-hour mark through South Korean forward Joo Ik-seong, his sixth goal this season.
After halftime, both sides fought hard, but there were no goals until late in the match, when Hang Yuan midfielder Chou Yu-chieh evaded defenders and provided a precise pass that forward Wu Yen-shu tapped in.
However, with a minute to go, South Korean midfielder Sim Woon-sub scored his first goal in Taiwan for TSG to seize a 2-2 draw.
Elsewhere, Taipower beat Ming Chuan University 3-1.
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