THE 2800 Yangon FC football fans who travelled the 695 kilometres (432 miles) to Mandalay to watch their side take on Yadanarbon were under no illusions they were far from home.
The build-up to last season’s grand final rematch had been of an intensity unseen in Myanmar domestic football.
Yangon FC owner U Tay Za had organised three trains to ferry club members to Mandalay. Not to be outdone, a Konbaung-era general was conscripted to ride around the city on a horse carrying a pennant with the Yadanarbon crest.
Ordinary supporters got in on the act, creating signboards for their houses that urged their side to crush the southern invaders.
Most tea shops had VCDs of Yadanarbon FC’s victory in last season’s grand final on repeat in the days before kick off.
And then the match began. Two first-half goals to Yadanarbon were enough to see off a spirited Yangon United side, which pushed hard for an equaliser in the second period but failed to grasp their opportunities.
Yadanarbon got off to a perfect start when winger Babo finished off a counterattacking move by heading the ball past Yangon United goalkeeper Aung Aung Oo to open the scoring.
Myo Min Tun did his best to get Yangon back into the match but first Kyaw Thuya on 26 minutes and then Gildas a minute later wasted golden opportunities to level the scores.
The equaliser finally came in the 29th minute, when Yangon defender Htay Aung headed a Yan Aung Win corner into the net.
On 37 minutes Yadanarbon were back in front when forward Paing Soe scored what would ultimately be the decisive goal, shooting past Aung Aung Oo from the right side of the area.
Both teams had chances in the second half to add to their goal tallies, the first chance falling to Yadanarbon’s Tun Tun Win but he headed over the bar on 69 minutes.
Yangon striker Naing Oo Lwin should have levelled for his side in the 78th minute but instead saw his shot well-saved by Yin Min Aung and then three minutes later Yan Paing set up Babo but he also failed to capitalise.
Yangon had one last chance to snatch a point but Myo Min Tun’s 89th-minute free kick was also well saved by the Yadanarbon keeper.
Yadanarbon’s head coach, Mr Yoan Girard, said his team enjoyed playing in front of their home fans and this made Ba Htoo Stadium a difficult place for other teams to perform well.
“We educate the home fans to behave themselves but they are just so crazy for Yadanarbon,” Mr Girard said. “For the next matches we will have to play at Yangon’s Thuwanna Stadium and it may be more difficult for us to win as the pitch is larger and the other clubs are used to playing on it. But, I believe if we keep playing as we have in the past few matches we will be able to win the title again.”
The Myanmar National League had wisely opted to task top referee U Win Cho with the officiating duties in this match but even he seemed overawed by the veracious support of the home fans.
Yangon United’s technical instructor, Mr Peter Bladder, said he wasn’t feeling the pressure despite Yangon United’s poor start to the season.
“I’m still relaxed. I need a certain amount of time to prepare the team. Even if a club hired a coach like [Alex] Ferguson, he can’t do much for a team that doesn’t have good players.”
