Naga and BBU vie for top spot

Khuon Laboravy netted twice on his return to league action for Preah Khan

There was a shock in store for the Army in Saturday's opening Metfone C-League game against Preah Khan. They led with a 1st half goal by Nov Soseila and though both teams created chances, I didn't expect Preah Khan to win by such a comfortable margin. PKR were back in the game early in the 2nd half, they took advantage when the Army had a player sent off and Khuon Laboravy came back from the wilderness to score twice after his appearance as a substitute. The Army remain in 3rd but this 4-1 defeat by PKR was a disappointing way to end what was otherwise a great first half of the season for the military men. In the 2nd match, Naga had it all their own way for 80 minutes of their game against Wat Phnom. Their plucky opponents offered some late resistance but it wasn't enough and Naga ran out 3-1 winners to leapfrog into top spot in the C-League table. Chin Chum netted twice in the first half and that helped to give Naga one more point than BBU, who play Chhma Khmao today.
Sunday's C-League encounters saw Kirivong see off the plucky fight of Prek Pra Keila, winning 5-0 with In Vichheka netting a hat-trick and Julius Chukwumeka a brace. Prek Pra brought a noisy band of youthful supporters with them but it was the Kirivong faithful who were cheering at the end. As expected BBU took Chhma Khmao to the cleaners, winning 4-1 to regain top place in the league standings. Nuth Sinoun scored twice to send him to the top of the goalscorers chart with ten goals. More on the individual matches later.