Prince wears the crown

The two teams take to the playing field faced by a bank of television cameramen. BBU in blue, Crown in red/black.

Crown line-up with strength in depth against Build Bright United

Phnom Penh Crown gave notice to the C-league teams that they will stand no dissent when it comes to talk of them winning this season's championship. The upstart students from BBU may've had a great first half of the campaign but when it came down to the face-off today, Crown always had enough to put the youngsters in their place and a bit more in the reserve tank as well. With a couple of suspensions and resting big stopper Sani Saidu, Crown were more than a match for BBU and led on 12 minutes when Sok Pheng redirected a Chan Dara cross past Sos Proshim with his head. It was a bloody hot day and the pace of the game was pretty pedestrian, hence Crown didn't score their 2nd until a couple of minutes before half-time. Uche Prince Justine had earlier lobbed one wide, so he was happy to nod in at the far post after Sun Sopanha's free-kick had eluded everyone else. He then opened up the BBU defence with a one-two with Oscar Mpoko, who failed to find the finish the move deserved. Thirty seconds after the start of the 2nd half, The Prince was at it again. Mpoko won the ball in midfield, fed The Prince and he did the rest with a low drive from just outside the box. Earlier this week he had confided to me that his confidence was suffering a bit, but the beaming smile and victory somersault told its own story and he was only denied a hat-trick by the woodwork ten minutes from the end. Though Crown weren't as fluent and fluid as they can be at their best, they always had too much for the students, who netted a consolation through Nelson Oladiji when Peng Bunchhay and Tieng Tiny collided and left him with a tap-in. Crown move to within 2 points of league leaders Naga with this 3-1 victory, whilst BBU are now in third spot.

The BBU boys came unstuck against the title favourites this afternoon

Another in the mini-book of great toss-ups of our time. This one is by referee Sreng Haody.