Railways’ by Aung Min Zaw’s freekick sails over the goal. Pic: Aye Zaw Myo

A LONE goal from midfielder Aung Moe was enough for Kanbawza to see off Myanmar Railways in a disappointing Myanmar League match at Aung San Stadium last week.

Kanbawza were a shadow of last season’s side that shadowed eventual champions Customs all the way to the end of the season and were still a chance for the title going into the final round of matches.

The key to their success was a prolific attack – Kanbawza averaged 2.25 goals a game – and a frugal defence that conceded only nine goals for the year.

But none of that attacking prowess was on display last week, with both sides constantly breaking down in the final third and squandering the few golden opportunities that came their way.

Until the 11th minute, fans could have been forgiven for demanding their K500 back. Finally Myanmar Railways threw up a move of note when Kyaw Lin Oo nipped in behind the Kanbawza defence but took too long to shoot, allowing the defender to get in a successful challenge.

This seemed to spur Kanbawza into life – three minutes later they produced one of the few decent moves of the match and were rewarded with a goal.
Fittingly, it was a move that began with a mistake by Railways defender Kyaw Kyaw Myo. His poor control allowed Ye Maung Maung to steal the ball and play it out wide to midfielder Aung Moe, who cut in along the edge of the box and looped a shot over and around stranded goalkeeper Ye Lin Aung.

Kanbawza experienced a brief period of dominance following the goal and created several half chances but couldn’t convert. Aung Kyaw Oo, in particular, was giving the Railways defenders problems with his hard running down the right flank and he put in several crosses that troubled the opposition.

On 32 minutes another mistake by Railways almost allowed Kanbawza to double their lead. A clearance from defence went out to the halfway line and the Railways defender overcommitted and missed the ball, leaving Kanbawza striker Soe Min Oo one on one with the keeper. However, his shot slammed into the upright and flew away for a goal kick.

Soe Min Oo had another good opportunity to score just minutes later. A long hopeful pass was played up to striker Kyaw Thiha, who made no attempt to reach it because he was in an offside position. The Railways defenders also stopped, allowing Soe Min Oo to run onto the ball but he was thwarted by goalkeeper Ye Lin Aung, who ran 30 metres off his line to clear the danger.

The Myanmar Railways midfield, led by Aung Min Zaw, who was dictating play from just in front of the back four, began to assert more influence on the match. His clever ball released Aung Myo Min, but the Railways striker shot straight at the keeper.

Then, from nowhere, came the move of the match. Aung Min Zaw started a chain of passes deep inside his own half that released Aung Myo Min down the right flank. The striker produced a neat low cross for teammate Ye Win Htike but his shot was blocked by a well-positioned Kyaw Zin Htet.

As a spectacle the match seemed to be improving but, sadly, this didn’t continue after half time. Barely a single goalscoring oppor-tunity was produced in the first 20 minutes of the second half, until another mistake by the Railways defence let in Soe Min Oo, who – perhaps lulled by the lack of previous opportunities – could only slice his shot wide.

He squandered an even better chance on 79 minutes when the ball fell to him on the edge of the box after the Railway defenders failed to clear their lines.

Ninety minutes passed and the three points looked safe for Kanbawza but there was time for one final scare. A pass from Railways midfielder Than Zin Tun sent Ye Win Htike clear of the Kanbawza defence but with only the keeper to beat he pushed a timid shot wide.