Academy net 8

Result: PPCFC Academy U-15 8 FFPCA 0 (RSN Youth Cup Elite U-16). 
It was business as usual for the Academy today at RSN after their shock defeat last weekend in the new RSN Youth Cup. In their first game under Thai coach Somchart Yimsiri, the youngsters led 3-0 at the break with goals from Sem Phanny and two from Ros Darapich. Two goals each from Chon Chamroeun and Met Samel after the interval increased the lead with Pros Vutha's goal completing a dominant performance late on.
PPCFC Academy line-up, back row, LtoR: Laiheang, Chamroeun, Samel, Pisoth, Navin, Darapich. Front row: Vutha, Phanny, Sokly, Ladin, David.

Academy fail

PPCFC line-up (pictured above), back row, LtoR: Laiheang, Chamroeun, Samel, Pisoth, Darapich, Navin. Front: Vutha, Ladin, Phanny, Sokly, David.

Result: PPCFC Academy 4 Smart Kid 5 (RSN Youth Cup Elite U-16).
In the opening game of the new RSN Youth Cup, Smart Kid sprang a big surprise beating the Crown Academy U-15s at RSN Stadium this morning, especially as they were 3-1 behind at half-time. Crown led through Chon Chamroeun and 2 goals from Met Samel, the first a penalty after he was tripped. Smart Kid never gave up and scored 3 quick goals, as both sides had a player red carded. Samel scored his hat-trick goal to level it at 4-each but a breakaway goal late on gave Smart Kid the victory.

Clean sweep for Academy

The PPCFC Academy and community boys, celebrated their clean sweep success at the 7 Makara Youth Cup tournament hosted by Boeungket Angkor at Premium Sport Club today. All three age category finals, at U-12, U-14 and U-17 were won by the PPCFC teams and the youngsters celebrated their success with club president Rithy Samnang, when they returned to RSN Stadium. A special mention to Yim Makara (U-12) and Ros Darapich (U-14) who won the Golden Boot in their age groups as the tournament's leading scorers.
These are the results from today's successful 7 Makara Youth Cup played at Premium Sport Club and organised by Boeungket, where PPCFC teams won all three age categories. In the U-12 section, PPCFC entered two teams, one from the Academy and one community team. Well done to all of our young players and to our coaches on their successful tournament.
PPCFC A U-12: 
vs 3G W4-0: vs Zaman W6-1: vs Boeungket W6-1; vs CIA 1 W2-1 (semi): PPCFC B W5-2 (final). Top scorer: Yim Makara - 11 goals.
PPCFC U-14:
vs MIS W3-2: vs CIA W5-2: vs WIS W3-0: vs 3G W6-1 (semi): vs 3G W1-0 (final). Top scorer: Ros Darapich - 7 goals.
PPCFC U-17:
vs Boeungket A D0-0: vs Boeungket B W1-0: vs Fansport W2-0: vs CIA W12-0: vs Ping Peang W7-1: vs Fansport W2-1 (semi): vs Boeungket A W2-1 (final). Top scorer: Pov Ponvuthy - 8 goals.

Harry in the spotlight

Harry talks to Lim Pisoth

The spotlight falls on PPCFC Academy U-15 technical coordinator Harry Varley in this interview for the website, British Coaches Abroad Association @ http://www.britishcoachesabroad.com/meet-the-coach-harry-v…/ - Harry joined the club recently after experience at Shrewsbury Town, Sporting Khalsa Ladies and Coerver Coaching where he was technical coach (UK), academy development officer (Mexico), and regional director (New Zealand).

Making a point in Vietnam

Final score: PVF Academy (Vietnam) 2 PPCFC Academy 2 (U-18 ACT 2015).
A superb battling performance by the Crown Academy against last year's beaten finalists on their home turf in Vietnam, earned them a 2-2 draw with the visitors twice coming from behind. PVF scored first on 26 minutes with a fortunate header, which Ouk Sovann levelled 3 minutes after the break when his 30-yard free-kick from wide on the left deceived the goalkeeper and sneaked inside the far post. On 71 minutes, PVF went in front again with a rasping shot from outside the box, but substitute Umaru Samura came on and curled a 20-yard free-kick over the wall and into the PVF net for a 2nd equaliser on 81 minutes. A well-deserved and valuable ACT point for the Academy U-18s.
PPCFC line-up, back row, LtoR: Sovann, Soksela, Senteang, Jason, Titchhy, Sodavid (capt). Front row: Chanpolin, Suleiman, Noeut, Ponvuthy, Rozak.

PPCFC Academy technical director Tom Legg gave his thoughts after yesterday's 2-2 draw with PVF in Ho Chi Minh, which gave the PPCFC Academy their first away point of this year's U-18 Asia Champions Trophy. "Overall we are pleased with the result and performance from our young squad last night, we showed great desire and competitiveness from the first minute to the last. Its always a challenge playing away from home and considering the difficult conditions we faced leading up to the game, the players adapted very well. We had to make a few last minute changes to the game plan after the heavy rains and I was happy to see the players show their tactical flexibility to take on board and apply those changes.
Everyone that watched the game could see we carried much more of an attacking threat than PVF and we created a number of good goal-scoring opportunities, which is always pleasing when you are playing away from home.
Taking a step back and reviewing the last two performances from the players should go some way to show that we are not in this competition to simply make up the numbers, we are here to compete and achieve success.
We're still on track to reach our minimum points target for these two games which we feel will leave us in a strong position to challenge for qualification to the knock-out phase."
The ACT Group B points totals after 3 matches for each team: Kashima Antlers - 6 points, Frenz United B - 5 points, PVF - 2 points, PPCFC Academy - 2 points.

7-2 defeat for U-15s

The PPCFC Academy U-15s lost out to a Ministry of Interior team on Saturday at RSN Stadium. The visitors led 4-0 at the break and despite a Nop David penalty and a Pich Sovannaroth goal after the interval, the Ministry team ran out 7-2 winners.
PPCFC line-up, back row, LtoR: Bory, Sovannaroth, Chandara, Piseth, Panha, Chanmony. Front: Samel, Davann, N David, Pisoth, S David.

U-16s return home

The Cambodia U-16s are returning from Singapore after finishing fourth in their AFC U-16 Championships qualifying group H. Yesterday they lost 3-1 to hosts Singapore after a creditable 1-0 defeat to Thailand and a 7-0 reverse against North Korea. PPCFC's Yue Safy played in all three matches, whilst Sin Kakada started the game against Korea, and Yem Chetra started yesterday's match.

Friendly win

Result: PPCFC Academy 4 Porsenchey 2 (Friendly).
The senior Academy team were three goals ahead after 25 minutes in this friendly at RSN Stadium this afternoon. Early goals from Sath Rozak and Ouk Sovann were added to by another from Sovann before the visitors scored 7 minutes before the break. Ten minutes after the restart Mat Sakrovy slotted in Crown's fourth but Porsenchey never gave in and scored another.
PPCFC line-up, back row, LtoR: Jason, Titchhy, Soksela, Sovann, Chanpolin, Sodavid. Front: Rozak, Piphop, Muslim, Noeut, Ponvuthy.

U-13s in national championships

PPCFC U-13s win 8-0 vs Kompong Thom

The PPCFC Academy U-13s were knocked out of the U-13 National Championships this afternoon, losing 1-0 to Pailin, who scored after 14 minutes at Tonle Bati.

30 August: PPCFC Academy U-13s 13 Kompong Chhnang 0 (U-13 National Championships).
Another convincing and dominant display from the Academy U-13s as they completed their group matches this morning at Tonle Bati. With 7 goals in the 1st-half and another half dozen in the second period, they now go through to the last 16 full of confidence. The goals came courtesy of hat-tricks for Ros Darapich and Sem Phanny, with 3 goals each, Jonh Chhomrean 2, Tin Ladin 2, and Yim Makara, Kis Nakha and Met Samel 1 each.

29 August: PPCFC Academy U-13s 4 Preah Vihear 1 (U-13 National Championships).
The Academy U-13s won their second group game in the National Championships at Tonle Bati early this morning, with Jonh Chhomrean once again getting amongst the goals. He scored twice in the first-half and completed his hat-trick after the interval. Ky Rina got the other Crown goal. The U-13s face Kompong Chhnang in their final group match tomorrow at 8am.

28 August: PPCFC Academy U-13s 8 Kompong Thom 0 (U-13 National Championships).
In their opening U-13 National Championship game at Tonle Bati on Friday, the Academy U-13 were in control from the start and dominated the match. Jonh Chhomrean top-scored with 5 goals and there was one each for Kis Nakha, Ros Darapich and Mit Samel. Next game versus Preah Vihear at 8am today (Saturday). 

30 August:
A mixed PPCFC Academy team beat Victory FC 3-2 at RSN on Saturday afternoon. The U-15s were boosted with some of the senior Academy players, seeking to gain match practice. Victory led 1-nil at the break but goals from San David, Ouk Sovann and Suleiman Samura gave the home team the win.

Victory over BBU

Result: PPCFC Academy 4 BBU 1 (Friendly).
The senior Academy team were too strong for a young BBU line-up in this friendly encounter at RSN Stadium this afternoon and an early 5th minute goal from Yeu Muslim set the pace. Chhuot Senteang netted a second just before the break. BBU took advantage of a wayward pass to score but Crown came back strongly with goals from substitutes Pov Ponvuthy ( 72 mins) and Mat Sakrovy (87 mins) to win comfortably.
PPCFC line-up, back row, LtoR: Senteang, Umaru, Chanpolin, Chanchav, S Samnang, Sodavid. Front: Muslim, V Samnang, Noeut, Rozak, Baraing.

Shiny Rahus join Crown

PPCFC have joined forces with the Shiny Rahus, also known as the Phnom Penh Social Rugby Club (PPSRC), who will provide a weekly rugby training session for Crown's three Academy age groups. In return, RSN will host rugby events with PPSRC whenever possible. The rugby training will be designed to improve the Academy players' competitive mentality, pain thresholds and physical capabilities. Joining Tom Legg, Crown's Academy Technical Director, at the signing of the memorandum of understanding at RSN was PPSRC's Steve Noble, Fabien Dutasta and Ricardo Maria. We look forward to a fruitful relationship with our rugby-playing friends.

3 in U-16s squad

Three members of the PPCFC U-15 Academy squad - Sin Kakada, Yue Safy and Yem Chetra - have joined the Cambodia U-16 national team for their trip to Malaysia to play a friendly match against the hosts national team and then will travel to Singapore for the AFC U-16 Championship Qualifiers. Cambodia will play against North Korea (2 Sept), Thailand (4 Sept) and hosts Singapore (6 Sept) in Group H in Singapore. A total of 45 countries entered the qualifying stage and are drawn into eleven groups. The Crown boys were also part of the national team squad that won the GFA Soriya U-15 international tournament at Tonle Bati last week that included teams from Japan and Singapore. Good luck to the boys and their teammates on their travels to Malaysia and Singapore.

Following her dreams

Channou is one of our PPCFC community coaches and is a great example to young girls of following your dreams. She was a player with the Mighty Girls in Battambang for four years and is now living in Phnom Penh, combining her university studies in administration law with coaching our community teams. Channou was a goalkeeper and coach for the women's national team. Watch this video about her @ https://youtu.be/D2jG_Xjtt5s

Academy results

Back row, LtoR: Chanmony, Sakrovy, Chandara, Suleiman, Panha, Bory. Front: Puthik, N David, Pisoth, S David, Samel

The PPCFC Academy results this weekend: On Saturday the Academy U-13s beat Banteay Meanchey 3-2 with goals from Chhomrean 2 and Sokly. Following that game, the senior Academy team won 4-0 against K157 at RSN. Ouk Sovann, Umaru Samura 2 and In Sodavid scored the goals. On Sunday, the Academy U-15s drew 2-2 with Green Youth (Anachak Baitong), with Tong Chanmony and Mat Sakrovy scoring. Here's the U-15s pictured before the game with a couple of senior Academy players included. Back row, LtoR: Chanmony, Sakrovy, Chandara, Suleiman, Panha, Bory. Front: Puthik, N David, Pisoth, S David, Samel.

Held by Tiger

PPCFC vs Cambodian Tiger, back row, LtoR: Obadin, Bisan, Thierry, Sokngon, Ary, Boris (capt). Front: Dani, Suhana, Makara, Matnorotin, Booysen.

15 August 2015: Phnom Penh Crown 0 Cambodian Tiger 0 (Metfone C-League).
Despite extending their unbeaten MCL record to 14 games, Crown will be asking why their usually potent goal threat wasn’t in evidence on the artificial pitch at Western Stadium today. Yasuyuki Yoshida, in the Tiger goal, kept out a Kouch Dani early on and later denied Keo Sokngon, George Bisan and Sary Matnorotin. At the other end, Yok Ary was called into action to keep out Privat Mbarga and Suong Virak, whilst Mbraga failed to cash in on a rare weak defensive header from the ever-reliable Odion Obadin. The teams now go into a 1-month break from league action whilst the Cambodian national team focus on their World Cup preparations. PPCFC are top of the MCL table by 1 point from Boeung Ket, having played 1 game more.

Head coach Sam Schweingruber gave this reaction at the final whistle. “The first-half, it was pointless to be here, but the first 15 minutes of the 2nd half, we showed that we wanted to win, four half chances and with a bit more luck we could’ve scored, but when you are defending champions and you play against teams who celebrate a nil-nil draw like a victory, in the end you shouldn’t be surprised. Overall, Tiger worked really hard and deserved the draw. We were absolutely lifeless in the 1st half. It was pretty much a repetition of the Naga first-half, so very disappointed that we couldn’t learn the lessons. I didn’t get the response I wanted. I never settle for 1 point, that’s two points dropped in my view. A draw is a loss, that’s our idea for the whole season.”

Academy draw with Frenz at RSN

PPCFC vs Frenz, back row, LtoR: Chanpolin, Chhaya, Jason, Umaru, S Samnang, Sodavid (capt). Front: Sovann, Ponvuthy, Piphop, V Samnang, Baraing.

14 August 2015: Phnom Penh Crown Academy 1 Frenz United B 1 (U18 Asia Champions Trophy).

What a great game and areal credit to both teams for producing such a high quality ACT match under floodlights at RSN Stadium. Crown began brightly but it was both goalkeepers who were on top form early on, with Svang Samnang tipping a blast from Akhmar Haiqal over the cross-bar and Frenz’s Adam Zairi Zaini doing the same from Umaru Samura’s flicked header. Frenz took advantage of a defensive howler to open the scoring on 30 minutes, as Haiqal nipped in to steer the ball into an empty net. Just six minutes later and Jason Thomas got the all-important touch to an Ouk Sovann corner to put PPCFC back on level terms. Chances continued to be created at both ends, with the home team just edging in front in possession and opportunities created. In Sodavid and Sovann went very close, Haiqal rolled a shot inches wide and Adam Zaini pulled off a flying fingertip save in the top corner from Seut Baraing’s free-kick. Thomas was denied with five minutes to go when his header from Sovann’s corner was cleared off the goal-line, as Frenz ended the game with 10-men when Bursanudin Ahya was sent off for a second yellow card. A fabulous advertisement for the ACT2015.

PPCFC Academy head coach Bouy Dary was encouraged by the performance of the senior Academy team against Frenz United with an entertaining 1-1 draw, which was less than week after they lost 5-0 in Japan against Kashima. “The boys did really well, we created a lot of chances, we should really score more goals and win the game. For me I’m pleased with the result and the way we played, we had a lot of possession and chances, but sometimes we need a bit of luck as well. One thing we need to learn is that we need to be stronger. I think the Frenz keeper saved a lot of stuff tonight, some really good saves, he did really well. For our side, the whole team did really well but Jason scored a goal, caused them problems at set pieces and had a very good game defensively as well.”

Winning away

Wednesday 5 August 2015: Svay Rieng 1 Phnom Penh Crown 3 (Metfone C-League).
On an already waterlogged pitch and under heavy rain, Crown got off to the worst possible start when Dzarma Bata slipped through the middle of the defence to fire Svay Rieng into the lead after a mere 38 seconds. Nen Sothearoth then curled a free-kick against the cross-bar before Crown got their first sight of goal, with Shane Booysen’s effort ruled out for offside. The wet surface was not helping either side though Sos Suhana blasted just wide and for the home team, Samoeun Pidor won a race with Yok Ary but couldn’t finish. With the match simmering, it boiled over on 42 minutes when Booysen went through and fell under the challenge of keeper Aim Sovannarath. The referee booked the keeper and awarded a penalty only to change his mind a minute later after consulting with his assistant.
The second-half belonged to Crown, as they showed their intent from the word go. George Bisan headed inches wide and then blasted over the top when well-placed. Then on 72 minutes his touch from Odion Obadin’s long ball went to the feet of Keo Sokpheng and his sublime strike from 20 yards sailed into the top corner for a beautiful goal. Four minutes later and Keo Sokngon’s inch-perfect cross was met on the volley by Leng Makara at close range to give the visitors the lead. It was now all one-way traffic with Sokngon’s shot smothered and a Booysen effort missing the target by a whisker. In the fifth minute of time added on, Crown wrapped up the 3 points when Sokngon fed Santi Koroma who laid the ball into the path of Suhana and he blasted home from 16 yards. The match ended with the Crown players giving their thanks to the fantastic travelling support, who sang throughout the whole 90 minutes.

Sam Schweingruber, Crown’s head coach, gave his thoughts after the final whistle at Svay Rieng. “Our preparation for the match wasn’t ideal – the pitch was flooded the day before and our warm-up was not on the soggy pitch, so we went out there a bit uncertain, though that’s no excuse for going a goal down so early. Very disappointed with how we conceded – definitely a big issue as our game plan went out of the window after 40 seconds. In the 1st-half we failed to do enough to really get into the game. Our plan worked out with our substitutions, very happy with how the team showed character and spirit. In the 2nd-half we were the only team that wanted to win the game, but things didn’t go our way until we scored our first goal. I’m very happy for Sokpheng to score such a screamer, and it came from a situation we talked about at half-time. I was proud of the team for their fighting spirit and for not giving up, pushing for more and you could see when we scored what it meant to the team. And we were not satisfied, we wanted to win.
I must mention our fans, who were excellent. I heard them throughout, it was nice to have the drums and the support, it’s very encouraging to be far from home and to have people making so much noise and supporting you, it was a great experience. To have our supporters with us was a nice taste of a real professional football environment. I can’t speak highly enough of our fans.”

Wednesday 5 August 2015: Kashima Antlers 5 Phnom Penh Crown Academy 0 (Asia Champions Trophy)

The Crown Academy fell to a strong Kashima Antlers U-18 team who led by three goals at the break and went onto win 5-0 in this opening Asia Champions Trophy match at their 40,000-seater stadium. Playing in front of their home fans Kashima controlled the match right from the kick-off making Crown work hard for the ball. Midfielder Takanobu Nishimoto scored Kashima first ever goal in the competition on 11^th minutes after some confusion in the penalty box. Two minutes later Yuki Kakita slotted in the second goal. The two quick-fire goals put pressure on the Cambodians as they struggled to contained the running and quick passing play from Kashima.

The home team continued to dictate the match, organizing attacks and their effort prove fruitful when in the 23^rd minute, Hayato Ishizu’s effort founds the back of the net. Head Coah Bouy Dary decided to make changes with Chhuot Senteang brought in to replace Suon Noeut on 32 minutes.  The game was in Kashima’s favour 3-0 at the interval.

The Japanese kept their momentum, dominating possession of the ball and the 4th goal arrived on 59 minutes through the substitute striker Yuki Shikama that came in just a minute into the match to replace third goal scorer Hayato Ishizu. Juriya Yoshioka finished off any hope of a comeback for Crown in the 65th minute when he scored the fifth goal after a good combination of passes in the middle of the pitch.

After the loss Crown Head Coach, Bouy Dary feels that the boys were not focused and took their time a little bit too much to get used to the condition at the Stadium. “The players came out cold, and bit of fear maybe, which is disappointed as we discussed this before the game.” Dary was speaking to the media after the match. “We lost the game in the opening 20 minutes. Three errors resulted in three goals, clinical play from Kashima. After the first half water break we worked harder out of possession and were more confident with the ball. We created some chances especially Uma and Sovann, at this level you’ve got to take those chances.

Next match for PPCFC Academy is at home in RSN Stadium where they will play Frenz United B and Dary is hoping to turn the page as quickly as possible. “Overall I don’t think the players showed their real quality and potential, we will regroup and focus on next week home game against Frenz. I hope our home fans turn out to support us and make lots of noise” he added. This match will be on Friday, 14 August. [Report courtesy of http://www.act.frenzunited.com.my/.]

Academy upset Boeungket

PPCFC Academy vs Bouengket, back row, LtoR: Thomas, Danny, Chanpolin, Sodavid, Chanchav, Titchhy, Samura. Front: Sovann, Chansopheak, Ponvuthy, Baraing - click to enlarge

Thursday 23 July 2015: Result: Phnom Penh Crown Academy 3 Boeungket 2 (Friendly).
A masterful performance by the Crown senior Academy saw them dominate for the majority of this friendly at RSN this morning. Against a strong Boeungket line-up, the Academy created many chances in both halves, but fell to a sucker punch six minutes before the break, as the visitors scored a breakaway goal. Crown continued to frustrate in front of goal until Umaru Samura threaded a pass through the defence and Ken Chansopheak drilled the ball inside the post on 56 minutes. Now in complete control, Ouk Sovann curled a free-kick against the bar and then blasted another shot against the foot of the post while the visiting goalkeeper saved his team on three occasions with point-blank stops. On 76 minutes, Boeungket completed a smash and grab raid to go further ahead but Crown continued to push forward and were rewarded for their pressure with two goals in the last five minutes. Umaru let fly from the edge of the box and his shot took a slight deflection into the roof of the net for the leveller. With a minute to go, In Sodavid crossed for Jason Thomas, who controlled perfectly and rolled the ball to Umaru, who rifled his shot into the net for a very deserved winning goal.

Up and down for Academy teams

PPCFC vs Victory, back row, LtoR: Chanmony, Sovannaroth, N David, Chetra, Samnang, Panha. Front: Samel, Rina, Pisoth, Punlork, S David - click to enlarge

Sunday 19 July 2015: PPCFC Academy U-15s 5 Victory FC 4 (Friendly).
San David put the Academy ahead on 29 minutes with a beautiful lob but Victory came back strongly to score twice before half-time, including a penalty, at RSN this morning. Nop David levelled just after the break but Victory scored twice more, the first a penalty to go 2-4 ahead. Yeu Muslim, one of five senior Academy players to get match practice, tapped in twice on 71 and 77 minutes to draw level and Tong Chanmony curled in the winning goal in the final minute to give Crown the victory, 5-4.

The Academy U-13s played this morning and lost for the second time to Chraing Chamres U-15s, going down 7-2. Jonh Chhomren and and own goal were on the Crown scoresheet.

Academy sink Naga's boat

PPCFC line-up, back row, LtoR: Jason, Umaru, Samnang, Sodavid, Baraing, Chanvuthy. Front: Sovann, Suleiman, Muslim, Piphop, Noeut - click to enlarge

Friday 17 July 2015: PPCFC Academy 3 Nagaworld 1 (Friendly).
The senior Crown Academy triumphed over two strong Nagaworld line-ups in this friendly on the RSN Stadium pitch under floodlights tonight. In three periods of thirty minutes, all the goals came in the final third, with Baldwin Ngwa heading Naga in front on 67 minutes. Until that point it was pretty even between both teams. A minute later, Ouk Sovann's shot was saved and Santi Koroma followed up to knock in the equaliser. Finishing strongly, the Academy grabbed victory with two goals in the last three minutes. A glorious Suleiman Samura pass put in Umaru Samura and he scored at the second attempt. With the final kick of the match, Seut Baraing's free-kick was touched onto the bar and In Sodavid followed up to smack home the third and final nail in Naga's coffin.