Buriram completed a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Navy in a one-sided contest.Although the home side were unconvincing in the first-half, the introduction of skipper Suchao in the second saw Buriram dominate their struggling visitors.

It was a fairly low-key start to the game with both sides conceding needless free-kicks, though a rather fussy referee meant there was never going to be any flow to the game.

Buriram’s first meaningful attack came in the fifteenth minute when Diogo’s lovely back-heel set Anawin free in the left side of the area but he was crowded out before he could get a shot in.

Diogo was causing problems and he was brought down in full-flight after twenty minutes but the free-kick came to nothing. Navy had threatened a couple of times and had the ball in the net in the twenty-second minute following a free-kick but an assistant’s flag cut the celebrations short.

Two minutes later Buriram finally scored from open play. A right-wing cross caused panic in the Navy defence and when they failed to clear their lines, Diogo pounced to fire in from ten yards.

It was a decisive finish, something that has been lacking in recent weeks. Four minutes later Navy had a good chance to level but a free-header flew narrowly wide.

On the half-hour mark a delightful reverse pass by Macena set Prakit free down the left but his low cross was blocked and the resultant corner from Jakkraphan was too long.

After thirty-seven minutes Macena won the ball out on the left before cutting inside and putting the ball between a defender’s legs but the shot lacked power and the keeper made a comfortable save.

The referee finally lost patience with Buriram for conceding far too many free-kicks and Jakkraphan was the recipient of the game’s first yellow card in the forty-second minute.

In first-half stoppage time Navy had another free-kick out on the right and the resulting cross was headed narrowly wide with Siwarak struggling to cover.

Buriram just about deserved their lead but it had not been the free-flowing Buriram of old.Too many careless passes and too many silly free-kicks meant they were unable to stamp their authority on the game.

Buriram made a bright start to the second-half and a fierce Seul-Ki shot from the edge of the box left a defender requiring lengthy treatment.Then Anawin floated a cross to the far-post but the angle was a little too tight for Macena.

In the fifty-first minute the lively Macena got through down the left again and though the shot was on, he elected to send a low cross across the face of the goal but no-one was up in support.

Four minutes later Macena broke into the box again down the right but his attempted cross was blocked.Immediately after Anawin got to the byline down the right but his cross was cleared.

After fifty-seven minutes Buriram replaced Jakkraphan with Suchao and he made an immediate impact. He split the defence with a lovely pass to Diogo but the Brazilian’s shot lacked power and was straight at the keeper.

In Diogo’s defence, the ball did take a wicked bounce as he attempted to keep the shot down.A minute later Diogo beat the offside trap to seize onto a through ball but his control let him down.

Buriram finally got the second goal they had been threatening in the sixty-ninth minute.Tunez made a superb interception before setting Diogo free down the right with a lovely weighted pass.

The Brazilian took it in his stride before racing into the area.He was then felled from behind and the referee immediately pointed to the spot.There were no complaints from the Navy defence and all that remained was to find out who was going to take the penalty.

Seul-Ki stepped forward to send a shot high into the right side of the net, with the keeper diving the wrong way. It really was an unstoppable shot, even if the keeper had gone the right way.

Four minutes later Buriram got their third and it was a superb team goal.Namwiset kept his cool near his own goal-line and a neat one-two with Theeraton gave him the space to work the ball wide on the left.

Several first-time passes later, Macena was sent clear down the left-wing.He reached the byline before picking out Diogo with a perfect pull-back and the Brazilian’s finish was emphatic.

Outstanding football and Diogo again gave the keeper no chance with the kind of strike that has been lacking.Diogo was then replaced by Surat in the seventy-seventh minute and Chitipat was replaced by Krutyai.

Buriram were far from finished and opened up the Navy defence again when Suchao sent Macena away down the left. The Brazilian had a clear shooting chance but unselfishly squared the ball for Prakit who blasted high and wide.

Two minutes from time Theeraton sent over a left-wing cross which Suchao met perfectly with his head but he was denied by a great save from the keeper, diving to his left.

Deep into stoppage time, Anawin sent a dinked cross into the box which bounced off a defender’s head for Macena to try an audacious flick-volley with the outside of his foot but the ball flew just over.

So Buriram move up into second place and scored three welcome goals.They were a different side after the introduction of Suchao and could easily have doubled their tally.

However, the first-half performance should not be forgotten, nor should the fact that Navy really are a poor side and Buriram have much stiffer tests to come. Anawin had a good game, delivering a number of quality crosses from the right.

Suchao was outstanding and Diogo produced the kind of finishes Buriram have been crying out for. Next up is Chainat away, Wednesday April 29th, 6pm,followed by Bangkok United, home , Saturday May 2nd, 7pm.