Senate thrashed

PPCFC v Senate. Back Row LtoR: Obadin, Boris, Ha-Neul, Thierry, van der Hooft, Pheng. Front Row: Lika, Seyha, Seiha, Sokumpheak, Borey (capt)

Phnom Penh Crown thrashed Senate 8-1 this afternoon, pretty much as expected and though goals flowed, there should have been a flood. It was a Metfone C-League mis-match between the bottom club Senate, having a torrid time in their debut season, against a Crown team that's in-form. Or so they thought. Crown boss Sam Schweingruber welcomed back Bin Thierry after suspension and Elroy van der Hooft from the treatment table, but Sos Suhana and Ouk Sothy were both still on the injury list. On a slippery surface, Khim Borey forced a save from Kha Theara five minutes from the start but everyone in the Olympic Stadium heaved a collective murmur of surprise on 9 minutes when Senate took an unexpected lead. Puch Savuth took advantage of a slip by Kouch Sokumpheak and that extra yard gave him all the room he needed to curl a delightful shot inside the far post from the edge of the box. Senate couldn't quite believe their good fortune. It took Crown ten minutes to gather their wits and composure and Sokumpheak took a pass from Borey but his shot was deflected for one of 11 corners the home team collected in the game. From another Hong Pheng corner, van der Hooft got free but sent his diving header well wide. That was seconds before, in the 21st minute, Crown equalised and never looked back. Dutch marksman van der Hooft was on the spot to turn in Borey's unselfish low cross from a yard out, ending up tangled in the goal-netting. Borey's burst into the box was the product of a fifty-yard pass by Thierry that sailed over the defender's head. A few minutes later, van der Hooft and Kok Boris combined neatly only for the Flying Dutchman to send his powerful drive against the top of the upright. Crown's second goal was coming and on 28 minutes, South Korean Lee Ha-Neul, looking a danger whenever he got possession, duly obliged with his second goal in as many games. Pheng played a short corner to the edge of the box, Ha-Neul cut inside one defender and unleashed a ferocious shot which Theara couldn't keep out. Continuing to press as they went in search of a sackful of goals, Odion Obadin headed a Pheng corner weakly wide and Sokumpheak blasted high and wide, before van der Hooft, just two yards out, found Theara's arms instead of the net from another Borey low driven cross.

On 36 minutes Crown breached the shaky Senate defence once more. Ha-Neul bided his time before a prefect release sent Hong Pheng scooting free of his marker on the left side of the penalty area and as Theara came off his line, Pheng steered the ball inside the near post for number three. Chances continued to come and go, with Pheng crossing to Boris at the far post and his pull-back found van der Hooft off balance and Ha-Neul's reactive shot was deflected clear. With two minutes of the 1st-half remaining, Senate were dumbstruck by referee Sang Sopheak's decision to award a free-kick on the edge of the box instead of a penalty. As Ry Phearoeun broke through, Crown keeper Samrith Seiha appeared to win the ball and touch the player at least two yards inside the area, but Sopheak saw it as a foul, cautioning Seiha, but outside the box. Samuth Dalin's free-kick kissed the top of the cross-bar. With time up, Crown's final first-half miss fell again to their Dutchman, who lunged for a low cross by the advancing Pheng, but he couldn't direct the ball and it looped over the bar from six yards out. It didn't look like van der Hooft's day in front of goal.

Crown began the 2nd-half in total control with Ha-Neul dominating proceedings. Seven minutes in and he glided past three players with ease only for his shot to be blocked, and moments later tried twice more with goal-bound efforts only for Theara to stand firm in the Senate goal. Borey and Ha-Neul combined well but the Crown skipper was just a whisker away from connecting with the latter's inviting center. With Leng Makara joining the fray to add to Crown's attacking options, Ha-Neul avoided two tackles, setting up van der Hooft but he didn't get his shot away quickly enough and Theara got in a tackle. Next up, Bin Thierry slid in Borey but the striker was hesitant and Theara managed to clear when he looked second-best. Twenty-three minutes into the half and Ha-Neul's throughball gave Borey the room to send a slide-rule pass across the face of goal where van der Hooft was waiting to sweep the ball home for his second goal. More chances went begging as Pheng shot direct at Theara and then struck a first-time shot across the face of goal when it seemed easier to score. Squeezed between Pheng's misses, Ty Bunvicheth, at the other end, escaped Obadin's marking and it needed Seiha's boot to keep his shot out. Crown were immediately on the attack and their Dutch striker followed up to tap-in after Pheng had put Ha-Neul in space on the edge of the box, though Theara couldn't hold his stinging drive, and van der Hooft slotted in his hat-trick goal, on 76 minutes. Borey then stung Theara's hands with a drilled shot, before van der Hooft was on target again, with his third second-half goal in twelve minutes. Taking his own tally to four in the match, Borey was again the provider with a weighted first-time touch from Pheng's pass, which the former Ajax youth dispatched with venom into the corner for Crown's sixth, with ten minutes remaining.

There was no let-up for Senate as Crown went on the hunt for more goals, dominating possession and giving the C-League debutants a hard time. Sokumpheak touched in van der Hooft but he shot weakly at Theara, and then repeated the same act from a Ha-Neul pass. Thierry threaded a pass to substitute Makara and he broke clear of the pack, finding the target with some ease with only Theara to beat, with three minutes to go. A minute later, Ha-Neul robbed a defender but his drive was pushed wide by Theara's dive and then Ly Morslim's nifty feetwork gave Obadin a chance, but he too was off target with his shot. In the first minute of time added on, Makara was guilty of blasting the ball high and wide from a van der Hooft pass when it seemed easier to hit the target, and then three minutes into injury time, Crown scored their eighth and final goal. Ha-Neul and van der Hooft combined again with the 4-goal striker getting to the bye-line before lofting a cross to Borey, who controlled in an instant and appeared to toe-poke the ball into the far corner. It was a pleasing end to the game for the captain who'd set up three of his Dutch teammate's goals. 8-1 was the final score, the match had been as one-sided as the scoreline suggests and Crown moved into third spot in the league standings.
Line-up: Seiha, Boris, Seyha (Makara 62), Lika (Phearun 87), Obadin, Thierry, Sokumpheak, Ha-Neul, Pheng (Morslim 87), Borey, van der Hooft. Subs not used: Ary, Da, Ratana, Narin, Dara, Pisa. Bookings: Seiha. MOTM: Ha-Neul.