Academy crowned as champs

Crown Academy crowned champions

Captain Seut Baraing lifts the Yamaha Challenge International Tournament trophy as Phnom Penh Crown’s U-15 Academy team were crowned the winners of the first-ever six-team international friendly competition.  The Academy won four of their five matches over the three days of games held at the FFC’s Tonle Bati headquarters. The GIFU Select team from Japan were runners-up, on the same points as Crown but with a far inferior goal difference, with the FFC’s own Academy team coming in third place.
The Crown results were as follows - full match reports to follow:
The Academy defeated the FFC Academy comprehensively in Friday’s opening match of the Yamaha Challenge Tournament at Tonle Bati. PPCFC ran out 6-0 winners with Kim Chhaya getting a hat-trick (26, 31, 47 mins) and a goal each for Mao Piseth (14), captain Seut Baraing (30) and substitute Suon Noeut (55).
Mao Piseth struck 4 times as the Crown U-15 Academy team put the Global Football Academy from Singapore, who are all Japanese players, to the sword, winning 8-1 in Saturday morning’s Yamaha Challenge game. Piseth scored after 1, 17, 30 and 46 minutes. Sin Kakada scored a penalty on 20 mins and Kim Chhaya fired in his goal with fifty seconds on the clock at the start of the 2nd period. Sok Panha and Suon Noeut wrapped it up late on.
The Saturday afternoon Yamaha Challenge game for the U-15 Academy team was a much closer affair than their previous two victories. The GIFU Select team from Japan are in Cambodia on training camp and had won their earlier 2 matches as well. Crown had the better chances in the first-half but there were no goals. Svang Samnang saved well with his feet early in the 2nd half and then tipped over a free-kick later on. In between Suon Noeut, Seut Baraing and Kim Chhaya went close. With 3 minutes to go, Men Piphop crossed, Sin Kakada headed it goalwards and it took a deflection on its way in. GIFU refused to lie-down and hit the bar, before equalizing with a minute left on the clock. In stoppage time Noeut curled a shot against the post and then saw a certain goal saved on the line by a retreating defender. 1-1 was the final result leaving all to play for tomorrow.
The first match for the U-15 Academy team on Sunday morning was against Civil Aviation. Crown started off like a train and were 2 goals ahead in five minutes through Suon Noeut and Choun Chanchav. Four minutes later and CCSA were down to 10 when Soun Sopheaktra was dismissed for two yellow cards. Moments before the break, Noeut was fouled and scored from the penalty kick. Noeut completed his hat-trick 8 minutes after the restart before Kim Chhaya crashed home a 25-yard piledriver. Two goals from Mao Piseth completed the rout.
Crown needed to win to make sure of collecting the Yamaha trophy and they did just that with a great comeback after Svay Rieng took a 4th minute lead. SVR had their keeper Samnang Devid to thank for keeping them ahead, as he saved Kim Chhaya’s penalty seconds before the interval and continued to thwart Crown after the break. On 42 minutes Mao Piseth, the tournament’s top scorer with 7 goals, headed Crown level and Chhaya put them in the lead with a 30 yard free-kick that sailed over the keeper with 4 minutes to go. Captain Seut Baraing made sure of the victory with another 30-yard free-kick that bounced over the keeper to give the PPCFC U-15 Academy team the first-ever Yamaha trophy.