PHUKET: More than 3000 fans turned out tonight to see Phuket FC in what should have been a hopeless football cause.

Lying thirteenth on the Division One table, by rights Phuket FC should have been effortlessly shunted to one side by third-placed Sriracha.

Instead the Phuket green machine turned mean - and very nearly stole the match.

It was a thriller up until the 85th minute, when Sriracha's superiority eventually earned them the only goal and the game.

For all that, the big crowd who braved the wet night to go to Surakul Stadium in Phuket City got their money's worth.

New coach Anurak Srikerd, aged just 37, seems to have quickly won the hearts of fans and perhaps even more importantly the confidence of the players.

Having taken over with the demolition of both former coach Rong ''Noi'' Ajanyoot and Phuket FC in a 5-1 thrashing last weekend, Khun Anurak looked at home and in control beside the Phuket pitch.

Twenty-year-old Kampon Patomaukakul, one of four changes to Phuket FC, proved mature and athletic in the goals in turning back Sriracha time and time again.

For 85 minutes, the Phuket players, the Phuket coach and the Phuket fans all lived in hope.

Despite the loss, there's life in Phuket FC yet.

With five games to go, there is now a desperate edge to what the Phuket team has to do to stay away from the relegation zone.

And next week's game is another big one: away to Supanburi, the team that is lying second on the ladder, on October 6.

The green machine will have to be extra mean. But on tonight's performance, Phuket just might be up to it.