PPCFC on tour

PPCFC at Angkor Wat on tour in the northwest

Today the Phnom Penh Crown 1st-team squad will leave Poipet after a very successful two-day stay in the border town and will travel to Battambang. This afternoon (Saturday) at 3.30pm, the PPCFC team will play against Star Light FC at the Airport in Battambang. We urge all football fans in Battambang to come and watch the game and cheer for your team. Can Star Light FC beat the Cambodian Champions or will PPCFC continue their winning run of matches on their northwest tour of Cambodia? Come and see for yourselves. We want a BIG crowd to watch the final match of PPCFC’s tour. The tour has been a great success with large crowds coming to watch our three matches in Siem Reap and Poipet (match reports below), as well as our community activities with football coaching sessions by the players and staff and a mini-football festival with 120 children in Poipet.

21 August 2015:: PPCFC 9 Ly Hengchhay FC (Poipet) 2 (Friendly).

Crown finished their stay in Poipet with a convincing 9-2 victory over Ly Hengchhay at the 855Crown futsal pitch in front of another good-sized crowd. George Bisan scored a first-half hat-trick with Prom Yaneat and Long Boran also netting. The home side scored with the final kick of the half. Shane Booysen entertained the crowd with his ball skills as well as two goals after the break, with Um Tola also scoring twice late on. Overall, a good work-out for Crown who dominated throughout and made many new friends in Poipet.

20 August 2015: PPCFC 3 Asia4Bet FC (Poipet) 2 (Friendly).

After the children’s festival involving Crown, SALT Academy and the Mighty Girls, the squad played an 11-a-side friendly match on the futsal court against Asia4Bet FC and came out 3-2 winners, without really pushing too hard during the two 35-minute halves. Prom Yaneat and a rare Shane Booysen header gave Crown a 2-goal interval lead and Booysen extended that with a goal from an almost impossible angle. The home team never gave up and scored two goals but were always second-best, in front of a large audience.

18 August 2015: PPCFC 11 Next Step FC (Siem Reap) 3 (Friendly 9-a-side).

In the opening match of the PPCFC 1st-Team tour of the northwest provinces, a large crowd gathered at the Galaxy Goal futsal pitch in Siem Reap to witness a masterclass in futsal from the Cambodian champions, and a creditable never-give-in performance from Next Step. The game was 9-a-side and two halves of 35 minutes, with Long Boran scoring Crown’s opening goal on 3 minutes from a free-kick and adding a second on 15 minutes. Santi Koroma added another before a goalkeeping howler presented Next Step with a goal. Um Tola headed home from Boran’s long throw before Santi netted two more and one from Sor Polo to end the opening half at 7-1.
Crown changed their line-up for the second-half and George Bisan scored a brace of goals before the home team netted a real beauty of a goal. Shane Booysen and Lous Charly also got on the scoresheet before Next Step grabbed a late consolation. The match was played in an excellent spirit and gave the big crowd lots to cheer.

Children's football festival in Poipet

The Crown squad also took part in a children’s football festival in Poipet on Thursday, with 120 youngsters joining in with the SALT Academy and Mighty Girls from Battambang. It was a great success with both boys and girls up to the age of 16 enjoying themselves with ball skills, drills and six-a-side matches on the 855Crown field near the border with Thailand. In Siem Reap the players and staff held coaching sessions with a local NGO and an expat community team of children. This has been an important part of the club’s outreach program on their tour.