Naga denied

The final weekend of domestic football kicked-off today, well it would've been, if the federation hadn't decided on tagging on the ridiculous Super 4 play-offs to the end of the season to determine the Cambodian football champions. At the end of the 18-game season, NagaCorp came out on top, with still a game to play against Phnom Penh Crown tomorrow, but instead of getting their just rewards, they have to go into the Super 4 lottery to win another two matches in order to claim their prize. It's a crap way to decide a league championship. There's an argument to say that a play-off can decide the minor placings in a promotion and relegation situation, but to tack it onto the end of a domestic league season is not what football is about. It becomes an end of season lottery with in-form teams having the upper hand instead of rewarding the most consistent team throughout the whole campaign. I have never liked it, and never will. I also don't like the crap coverage given by the Phnom Penh Post to the final weekend of the league season. They gave a column inch to print the fixtures on Friday yet failed miserably to preview the games, instead preferring to cover the BPL, La Liga and the local basketball matches. They take a reactive approach to football reporting rather than seeking out newsworthy stories, concentrating far too much on chasing tennis titbits that less than a dozen people are interested in.

In today's Metfone C-League games the two relegated clubs both took a whipping which merely emphasized that they are not good enough to compete in the top division. BBU were first up, thrashing a weakened Western Uni team 7-1. Rim Bunhieng scored two identical headers and Pich Sina netted the first of his brace before the interval. Just after the hour Proum Yaneth scored a consolation penalty for the debut-season students before BBU's Japanese captain Dan Ito rounded off his cameo C-League career with a hat-trick, including two penalties. Ito is off to Bhutan soon to add another country to his CV as he attempts to make the Guinness Book of Records for playing professionally in as many Asian countries as possible. In the 2nd game, Boeung Ket walloped the other relegated club Chhlam Samuth 7-0. It was all one-way traffic as you might expect, with Friday Nwakuna's four goals taking him to the top of the Golden Boot scorer's chart with 20 goals. He can also lay claim to the miss of the season when he fired wide with an open goal at his mercy before the avalanche of goals began. Sin Dalin netted twice, the second a gorgeous curling free-kick with Chukwuma Ohuruogu also scoring. BK are already through to the Super 4 in their first season in the division.