On the face of it, this sounds like an entertaining game. However, the stark reality is it was a tale of two dreadful defences and slack passing by both sides. Three times the visitors came from behind to claim a deserved point , the third coming after they were reduced to ten men.
If there had to be a winner, it should have been the visitors who often had a clueless Buriram defence chasing shadows. They were all over the place as they gifted BEC all three goals through terrible marking and innocuous tackling.
It has to be remembered that Buriram were without Diogo, Suchao, Seul-Ki and Koravit, all key players, but that cannot disguise the fact that they were lacking in ideas and shape as they stumbled through the ninety minutes.
There were few players who emerged with any credit (apart from Siwarak who was left totally exposed for all three goals) and Narubadin had a nightmare both going forward and defending.
It all started so well with Buriram taking the lead in the eleventh minute when Narubadin sent over a deep right-wing cross which found Sathaporn unmarked beyond the far post and he controlled the ball before scoring with a cool finish.
It should have been two a minute later when Anawin was through on goal but he elected to lay the ball right for Anan who made a complete hash of controlling the ball and the chance was gone.
Anawin set up Anan again in the twenty-second minute but he sliced his attempted volley wide from eight yards with just the keeper to beat. Five minutes later Jakkaphan sent Anan through and he just got to the ball before the keeper but lifted it inches too high.
BEC began to get more into the game and following a Tunez mistake in their half, a swift break saw Siwarak make a good save in the thirtieth minute. Shortly after , a Jakkaphan error saw BEC awarde a free-kick just outside the left angle of the area and again Siwarak was forced to make another excellent save.
Buriram were forced to make a change in the thirty-fifth minute when Anan fell awkwardly and was replaced by Yong. No-one likes to see players get hurt but this was probably a blessing in disguise as yet again Anan showed that he is struggling to make an impact at this level.
Two minutes later the visitors were level when Chitipat needlessly conceded a throw-in and the ball was worked across the Buriram box with no-one able to get a tackle in and it eventually found the unmarked Bosancic who gave Siwarak no chance with a well-placed shot.
Five minutes before the interval Yong got through on goal down the right but the keeper came out to block his low shot. So all-square at half-time but it was patently obvious that there were more goals to come.
Buriram made a dream start to the second-half with a stunning strike by Jakkaphan. Supachok whipped in a low cross from the left which was half-cleared to Jakkaphan some thirty yards out and he crashed a brilliant shot against the inside of the left-hand post and into the net.
Jakkaphan is a bit of an enigma. He misses countless easy opportunities but when he does score, they are goals of the highest quality.
After a couple of Buriram half-chances went begging, BEC equalized in the sixty-first minute. Buriram had just replaced Sathaporn with Surat when slack play by Narubadin allowed BEC to advance and Chananan moved into the box unchallenged to hammer a shot past the again exposed Siwarak.
Five minutes later the visitors should have taken the lead when a low cross from the right was met by a diving header which fortunately was straight at Siwarak.
Buriram regained the lead in the seventieth minute when a left-wing cross eventually found Yong free in the box and he made no mistake with a measured finish.
Nine minutes from time BEC were reduced to ten men when their captain was sent-off following a second yellow card. Buriram then replaced Supachok with Adul in an attempt to close the game down.
This backfired as Adul’s first two contributions were to take a BEC player out. The second foul brought about an equalizer for the visitors in the eighty-fifth minute as from the free-kick Chenrop was allowed to power in a header completely unchallenged to give them a well-deserved point.
As mentioned before, Buriram are without several important players. However, this cannot excuse a totally disjointed performance with too many players showing a complete lack of confidence. There was no shape or pattern to the play and they were made to look pretty ordinary by a team who are struggling in the league. Worrying times indeed !
Buriram travel to Sisaket on Wednesday, June 22 7pm for the last match of the first-half of the season. This will then see the return of Diogo and the new signings.