OSAKA - Chonburi coach Jadet Meelarp was delighted with his team's display as the Thai side came within seconds of notching up a shock victory over J.League side Gamba Osaka on Wednesday evening. Only an injury-time equaliser from Brazilian striker Lucas managed to salvage a point for the Nabisco Cup winners after Arthit Sunthornphit had given the Thai champions a surprise lead with 30 minutes remaining. "It was a pity that we couldn't get the three points," said Jadet. "But I'm happy with this outcome although I never expected this. "I don't think we played the way we had planned. But we did our best to defend against our opponents' attack." Jadet admitted he had studied videos of Gamba's most recent performances and that research played a key role in his team's ability to unsettle their opponents. "Gamba are very good at attacking and were as strong as we had expected," he said. "But our tactics and players' skills combined well today." Gamba manager Akira Nishino cut a disconsolate figure after the game and he was not satisfied either with the result or his team's struggles in front of goal. "It was a tough game," said the former Kashiwa Reysol manager. "I knew it could be like this as our opponents have good abilities. But I never thought we would struggle to break them down as much as we did. "Our aim was to pick up three points today but even from early in the first half we could see if wasn't going to be easy. Chonburi were better than I thought. "The only positive thing about today's game is that we scored the goal at the last minute. I was also able to assess the level of our players." Nishino denied his lack of research on the strengths and weaknesses of Chonburi was the reason his side struggled for most of the game. "You shouldn't study your opponents too much, and I'd like to focus on showing our style of football more. Today, we ruined the game because we couldn't score," he said. "I don't think we played that poorly. We need to continue working on what we have been working on, which is how to break down our opponents and score goals."
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