It’s painful to write that 0 next to the Raiders name, and that 6 next to the NTV name. In an attempt at making ourselves feel better, the squad reassured ourselves that they are top of the league with a goal difference of +55.

Let’s be honest, it was a total spanking and our bottoms were purple. Not the kind of spanking that some Raiders will be searching out in the upcoming Bangkok tournament – gentle and playful (but still hurts a bit) – this was daddy’s belt across the buttocks.

NTV did score some excellent goals including a good free kick. Their delivery in the long ball was pinpoint mainly due to their standout number 19. Raiders did have to suffer the extended NTV family running the line – the linesman almost looked embarrassed when he had to flag for a Raiders throw – and the same referee as the previous weekend, the 4-3 loss to Hiep Phu.

No excuses for this loss, just beaten by a very well organised team. That is not to say we couldn’t have done better. We could have done a lot better! Let’s take the warning that our next opponents Gemadept did manage to score twice against NTV. Although they did concede 12.