Academy go international

The Phnom Penh Crown Elite Academy are taking a team of eleven boys to Singapore on Thursday to take part in the prestigious Singapore Soccer Sixes 2011 tournament, billed as Asia's premier soccer sixes tourney. They will meet five other U-14 teams from Bangladesh, Thailand, Indonesia and two from Malaysia in the charity youth competition at the Padang cricket arena in central Singapore. The games will take place on Friday and the leading teams then play off for the title on Sunday afternoon. In between they will have a trip to Singapore Zoo and Sentosa Island on the Saturday and the a coaching session with former Man Utd striker Andy Cole. The boys will be staying in the homes of members of the Singapore Cricket Club who are hosting their third annual event. One of the aims of the Academy when it was set up a few months ago was to give the boys experience in international competitions and in other countries and once the eleven players return next week, the remaining eleven members of the Academy squad will be off to Ho Chi Minh for a series of training sessions and friendly matches. A fabulous experience for all of the Academy boys, as if playing football every day of your life wasn't fabulous enough already. The first team caretaker coach Bouy Dary and his assistant Kao Kiry will be looking after the boys in Singapore and the youngsters making the trip to Singapore are; Phoeurn Sopheak, Pov Bunvuthy, En Sodavid, Orn Chanpolin, Yue Muslim, Chhuot Senteang (gk), Soun Neout, Kdey Barang, Ken Chansopheak, Mat Savary, Sath Rozak.

With Bouy Dary in Singapore, the Phnom Penh Crown first-team will have two new faces in charge for their last Metfone C-league game of the first half of the season, when they meet National Police Commissary on Saturday at the Old Stadium (3pm). Well, technically they are not new, as Vann Piseth and Prak Vanny have been with the club all season. Piseth and Vanny are also old hands with the Cambodian national team having worked with Scott O'Donell in his two spells as national coach. Vanny is still the goalkeeping coach with the national team and both men played most of their Cambodian League football with the Ministry of Defense in the 1980s. They take charge for a game which Crown need to win to return to the top of the C-League season ahead of the three-week break. I asked Dary for an assessment on his team's performance in the 0-4 reversal by Naga Corp on Monday. "As you saw our 1st half performance was not good at all. We knew what to expect, we'd talked about it at length and we simply didn't deal with it. Our defending in the whole team, was all over the place. We didn't cover, we didn't mark, we didn't help each other. Our concentration was not right at the very start of the match. Obviously it wasn't good enough and we'll need to turn it around against the Police on Saturday. We have a chance to make amends, so it's up to us." Dary is already committed to taking his Academy boys to Singapore and will miss the game on Saturday, so will the suspended San Narith and Sun Sovannrithy.

And finally...The AFC have got their act together to announce the dates and venue for the final round of the AFC President's Cup 2011. Rejecting an offer from Cambodia to host the final round, the AFC's competitions committee have instead gone for Chinese Taipei (also known as Taiwan) as the hosts for the final two groups of three teams apiece, with the two leading teams going forward to the one-off final. The matches will take place between 19-25 September. The draw for the final round will be made in Kuala Lumpur on 29 July, when we will know who Crown will be up against. The other five teams to make it through the qualifying stages are: Neftchi (Kyrgyzstan), Yadanarbon (Myanmar), Istiklol (Tajikistan), Taiwan Power Company (Chinese Taipei) and FC Balkan (Turkmenistan).

The bad news

The Crown starting line-up v Naga this afternoon. Back Row LtoR: Narith, Sovannrithy, Njoku, Obadin, Tiny, Bunchhay. Front Row: Sopanha, Virak, Ota, Sokumpheak, Chaya.

I'm still seething but you have to take defeats on the chin and come back for round two. Or in our case, a return to the absolutely bloody awful playing surface at the Old Stadium for our final match of the first half of the season against National Police on Saturday. We cannot afford another slip-up. A word on the pitch...the federation are a joke if they believe it's good enough for professional football teams to play on such a crap surface. The lack of grass along the middle spine of the whole pitch including both goalmouths is a disgrace and the federation should be brought to task for changing the venue for Crown's final two matches to this godforsaken hole. Of course it was the same for both teams but for the showpiece match of the Metfone C-League season to go ahead on that surface, was utter contempt for the two teams shown by the federation. It simply is not good enough. That aside, it was the performance of Phnom Penh Crown in the first half, not the pitch, not even the shocking display from referee Kuong Ly, that was responsible for their demise. To go in at the interval, four goals down and a man down, is something the players have to take a long hard look and ask themselves some tough questions. It was understandable to come undone against a team of the quality of Singapore Armed Forces, but to allow ourselves to fall to the same scoreline to Naga Corp is reprehensible. We knew exactly what to expect and we let it happen. Okay the first two goals were a fluke and a comedy of errors but coach Bouy Dary had planned how to keep Naga's hitman Julius Oiboh under wraps and we still let him do damage with two more goals before the interval. And then to lose a player to such a stupid reaction to a booking is almost unforgivable for a player of San Narith's experience. This isn't schoolboy football, every player is a professional and they need to act like it, even under provocation. We let ourselves down badly in the first forty-five minutes today and the players will need to pull their socks up and start again when we meet the Police this coming Saturday.

So here's the game today in more detail. 3pm kick-off at the Old Stadium. The pitch was a disgrace and controlling the ball on the mud patches spread along the middle was a nightmare for both teams. The federation need to ask themselves how they allowed the game to go ahead on such a disgraceful surface. That said, Naga applied the first bit of pressure on 4 minutes and went ahead through their debutant, midfielder Sumaila Momoh. Teab Vathanak's cross past the far post looked innocuous enough until Momoh, standing next to the byeline, whacked in a shot that fizzed into the far top corner from a seemingly impossible angle. A minute later Suong Virak fired Crown's first effort harmlessly wide but they received another body blow on 7 minutes. Julius Oiboh evaded Tieng Tiny out wide and fired in a center which Crown keeper Peng Bunchhay fumbled, then got in a mix-up with San Narith and left Teab Vathanak the easy task of rolling the ball into the empty goal. Tiny volleyed well wide at the other end before Naga extended their lead even further. On 21 minutes, Oiboh showed his pace and power, took on Tiny and left him in his wake before firing a lethal ground shot across Bunchhay and into the far corner for 3-nil. Crown were left shell-shocked, whilst Naga were in seventh heaven. And they weren't finished yet. Kouch Sokumpheak fired a low drive straight into the hands of Naga stopper Phorn Ratana and Sun Sopanha was replaced by Thul Sothearith after picking up a booking. Within a minute, Oiboh was at it again. On 32 minutes, Kingsley Njoku lost the ball in the middle of the park, Sam Minar fed Oiboh and with another example of his strength and speed, he brushed aside Sothearith, side-stepped Bunchhay and rolled the ball into the gaping net. Naga were leading 4-0 with just over half an hour played. Crown's Njoku headed tamely into Ratana's hands soon after and then Odion Obadin collided with Ratana instead of heading the ball in at the far post from a corner. A flash of stupidity on 38 minutes then made Crown's task an insurmountable one. Minar took a quick free-kick against San Narith's leg and referee Kuong Ly reached for his yellow card, at which point Narith whacked the ball with all his might, leaving the referee with no alternative to brandish a 2nd yellow and a red card. Narith had to be manhandled off the pitch sparking the Crown players temporarily losing their composure, with Njoku getting a yellow for arguing. Suong Virak was then booked for dissent and Kouch Sokumpheak displayed the kind of anger towards referee Ly that could've cost him a straight red card. Instead he got a yellow after the referee decided his ball-winning tackle was a foul. Though the referee was awarding Naga most of the decisions, the Crown players should know better. Njoku tried an unsuccessful acrobatic overhead kick in time added on at the end of a 1st half that Crown will want to quickly forget.

The second half was fairly even but of course Naga could afford to bide their time and wait for the whistle. The 10 men of Crown offered a bit more going forward but Virak couldn't get a touch to Takahito Ota's pass, Chan Chaya was denied an opportunity by Sy Longdy's last-gasp tackle and when Virak did find space, his low drive rebounded off the foot of the post. Referee Ly booked three more players after the break including Neang Chenla for handball when he was the last man and denied Crown a run on goal. A red card wouldn't have been out of place in the circumstances. Crown's Japanese signing, Ota, sent a bobbling low drive into the keeper's hands and when Njoku went on a mazy run past four defenders, his low drive from the edge of the box flashed wide. Longdy smacked a 30 yard shot against the Crown crossbar with Naga's only real effort on target after the interval. But they had already done the damage and without managing any reply, the final whistle couldn't come soon enough for Crown. They'll have to do much better when they meet National Police this coming Saturday in the final match of the 1st round of the C-league season.
Crown line-up: Bunchhay, Narith, Sovannrithy, Tiny, Obadin, Sopanha (Sothearith 31), Ota, Virak (H Pheng 73), Chaya, Njoku (S Pheng 43), Sokumpheak. Subs not used: Visokra, Bunna, Dara, Vanthan, Sovan, Narong. Bookings: Sopanha, Narith 2 + red card, Njoku, Virak, Sokumpheak, Sovannrithy.

Coach Bouy Dary makes sure his players understand his instructions

The players listen to a few home truths from coach Dary after the match

Crown crash

What a disaster. Phnom Penh Crown lost 4-0 to Naga Corp at the Old Stadium. No excuses, we started badly and simply got worse. We allowed ourselves to be sucked in and spat out by our big rivals. Of course there was confrontation and lots of moaning at the referee, but at the end of the day, Crown were given a first-half lesson and after that there was no way back. Naga go top in the meantime, though Crown have a chance to redeem themselves on Saturday and retake top spot. But they'll have to play considerably better than they did today. The first half showing was quite simply an unmitigated disaster of quite epic proportions. That there was no score after the break, when we were down to ten men, was something, but we didn't really make much headway in attack either. Massive lessons to be learned. More later when I've calmed down. I'm seething at the moment.

On the crest of a wave

Sen Soukey, happy to net the winning goal, but uncertain about how many goals he scored or the points his team won

Buoyant after their giantkilling act against Naga last week, Prek Pra's fans came out in large numbers, eager to witness another Metfone C-League success against fellow strugglers Chhlam Samuth. They didn't have to wait long to raise the roof when Mat Hasan showed some neat footwork to cut inside his marker and fire Prek Pra into an 8th minute lead, after a smart first-time ball from Philip Ali caught the Navy defence off-balance. On the half-hour, the noise level died when Chhlam Samuth levelled with a Ros Samoeurn looping header that evaded Prek Pra's diminutive keeper Sen Mansoth, who'd initially punched Olabode Abosede's strike into the air. It went even quieter six minutes before the break as the experienced Pov Samnang rifled a 25-yard free-kick into the top corner, giving Mansoth and Prek Pra no chance. This rollercoaster of a game continued six minutes into the second period as Adebayo Jimiv steamed his way through the pack to head home Sos Hanafy's corner kick with power, to ignite the Prek Pra fans once more. And on 68 minutes they simply couldn't control themselves as their team grabbed the lead for a 2nd time, when Sen Soukey sneaked in at the near post to get his head to a Soth Sa Aun corner that sailed inside the far post. Cue the celebrations. The cheering got even louder as the tiny Prek Pra keeper Mansoth dived full length to deny Meas Sophana another equaliser and his team rode the crest of the wave to record only their 2nd win of the season and leapfrog over Chhlam Samuth in the process.

Prek Pra, cock-a-hoop after their 2nd successive victory. No, that's not a ball-boy with the headband, that's their goalkeeper Sen Mansoth.

Chhlam Samuth fell into the bottom two with this 3-2 reversal

Referee Sang Sopheak giving new meaning to the terrace chant of 'tosser'

Dina grabs late, late winner

Tith Dina, scorer of 2 goals in National Police's 3-2 success

The first match in Sunday's Metfone C-League program was an entertaining five-goal affair that saw National Police take a two-goal lead, get pegged back by Kirivong before a late, late winner. Sophal Udom gave the Police a 15th minute lead in some style, cutting in from the left flank, body-swerving his way past a couple of defenders and burying his strike inside the near post. Not a bad way to kick-start the match into life. Kirivong striker Nelsom Oladiji can be a frustrating so and so if you are a Kirivong fan. He missed a hat-trick of chance's midway through the 1st half and at the start of the 2nd and Police made their opponents pay when Tith Dina sent a header in slow motion into the far corner five minutes before the break. At 2-0 down, Kirivong sensed a recovery when In Vichheka went looking for a penalty and duly got it when Sos Nasiet tapped his ankles. Even Oladiji couldn't miss from the penalty spot on 58 minutes. Oladiji then turned provider for the Kirivong equaliser on 74 minutes, when his deft touch gave Heng Koem Houng the easiest of tap-ins. Both teams missed opportunities at the death, Dina rolling his shot against the foot of the upright and Kirivong's Oladiji swinging his foot and missing completely when in space on the six yard box. As the referee put the whistle to his mouth, Police grabbed a dramatic injury-time winner as Tith Dina took advantage of a cock-up by Meak Chhordaravuth in trying to clear his lines and stroked the ball home from close range. It was rough justice on Kirivong after their fightback and Nelson Oladiji will be in for extra shooting practice as the teams now take a three week mid-season break.

The winning National Police team who moved into 5th place in the table

Kirivong will be licking their wounds during the mid-season break. They lie in 7th place.

10 goals in 2 games

Plastic water bottle collector Lina

We were treated to 10 goals in two Metfone C-League games this afternoon at Olympic Stadium. Considering we weren't watching any of the teams challenging at the top, that was a fair price to pay for sitting in the heat and humidity in my book. In the 1st game, National Police beat Kirivong 3-2 with the winner coming in time added on at the end. In the 2nd game, Prek Pra Keila's vociferous fans were treated to another win by their team, their 2nd in two weeks, with a 3-2 win over Chhlam Samuth. I think that calls for another party amongst their strong Muslim support. They certainly made enough noise in the stadium today.
The stadium is rife with rubbish collectors during the matches and you only have to turn your back for a second and the cheeky ones will take your bottled water or anything else you leave out in the open. However, I have a soft spot for this young one who makes about half a dozen trips to my seat during the games in the hope of getting my empty plastic water bottles. She announces herself by throwing her bag over the wall in front of my seat and beaming her winning smile from ear to ear. I asked her name today and I think she said Lina as she scampered away with my empty bottles. More later after I've eaten my curry. I'm starving.

FFC do it again

The football federation are at it again. The fixtures for the 2nd half of the Metfone C-League campaign were drawn up some months ago. But as they like to do, the federation have amended them to suit themselves. They did it before the 1st round began as well. Much as they have changed the venue for Crown's next two matches to the Old (Army) Stadium without any prior notice or consultation. Just at their whim. For Phnom Penh Crown that means that instead of kicking off the second round against National Police on 9 July we now face Rithysen. The Police game has been moved to 6 August and instead of facing Preah Khan Reach in our final game on 4 September, we now meet Naga Corp. Obviously the federation are expecting Crown and Naga to be at the top of the table, hence the fixture switch. There is no championship play-off this season don't forget. The team who finishes at the top of the league table, gets the big prize. The C-League's closing ceremony is also booked for 4 September.

Army march on

The Army now sit at the top of the C-League table after their 3-1 win over PKR

In this afternoon's football extravaganza (tongue firmly in cheek) at Olympic Stadium, the 2nd of the Metfone C-League games was a real tasty affair with 3rd (Preah Khan Reach) meeting 4th (the Army). And it was the Army who came out on top to put a dent in PKR's title hopes and to go to the top of the league table themselves, leapfrogging over Phnom Penh Crown by a point, though Crown have two games in hand. The game itself was one of the better ones seen so far this term with Preah Khan playing more of the football, but the Army were up for the game and in the faces of PKR, which put the Military Police-team off their stride. Khuon Laboravy and Prak Mony Udom should've perhaps done better with the four chances they had between them before and after Army took an 8th minute surprise lead. A ball from the right found Phuong Soksana in space at the far post and he rifled in the opportunity from six yards out to put the Army's noses in front. With PKR mis-firing at one end, it was left to Phlong Chanthou to show them how it's done when he lifted a boot to loop the ball over the head of Ouk Mic in the PKR goal, after their defence failed to handle a Pheak Rady free-kick. 38 minutes on the clock and the Army were buoyant. They began the 2nd half in a similar vein, looking hungry with PKR appearing a little shell-shocked. Chin Chhoeurn was playing out of his skin, ably supported by a masterclass midfield performance by Oum Kumpheak, and it was the nippy winger Chhoeurn who put the Army into raptures with a 3rd goal on 58 minutes. Kun Kuon put the ball into space, Chhoeurn used his speed to race onto it and buried his shot past Ouk Mic with some ease. On 70 minutes PKR were handed a lifeline by the referee. He saw Khek Khemarin's byeline challenge on Phany Y Ratha as a foul and pointed to the penalty spot. Army were incensed but Laboravy waited for the commotion to die down before rifling home his spot-kick. Sou Yaty, looking every inch the best keeper in the country, came to Army's rescue with ten minutes remaining, when he saved Ratha's powerful drive and grabbed it at the second attempt as the striker shaped to score. Laboravy was also denied and in the final moments Ke Vannak missed an open goal at the other end when Ouk Mic flapped at a Rady free-kick. Army go to the top of the table with this 3-1 win and Preah Khan are left to rue what might have been.

Preah Khan Reach lost to their old adversaries, the Army, 3-1

Referee Neang Sorithya admires his own coin-tossing prowess before the game

BBU pull it off

Matchwinner Ny Chinan of BBU

I'm sure you are waiting patiently for the results from today's feast of football at the Olympic Stadium. The Metfone C-League matches on view pitted BBU against Rithysen in the early start. And for a while it looked as though Rithysen, propping up the rest of the league with just two points from eight games, might get something out of this game. They didn't and BBU deservedly won, though the 2-1 scoreline doesn't really do their domination sufficient justice. Rithysen, bolstered by three foreigners, whilst BBU play without, took the lead against the run of play on 28 minutes. Rim Bunhieng hesitated in his own penalty area, Mat Rofazy took the ball off his toe and steered his shot into the gaping goal. BBU pressed but had to wait until four minutes before the break to draw level. El Mostafa clumsily took the legs of Pech Sina on the edge of the box and referee Khuon Virak raced to point to the spot. The wind moved the ball off the spot twice before Oum Chandara could roll his penalty wide of Oum Veasna for the leveller. A rash of bookings at the start of the second half and referee Virak had no choice but to brandish a red card when he booked BBU's Nhim Sovannara a second time, after an off the ball incident. The BBU camp were furious with the decision and it took Sovannara two minutes to slowly leave the field. On 79 minutes, Rithysen had their 2nd chance of the game when Etim Esin robbed Chhun Sothearath and rounded Hem Simay in the BBU goal, only to lash his shot into the side netting. It was the last we saw of Rithysen. Two minutes later, Chan Veasna sent over a hopeful cross and sub Ny Chinan ghosted in from nowhere to head powerfully in at the far post. 2-1 to BBU and they should've added a few more in the closing moments. Chinan missed two more, one an absolute sitter from five yards out and Sothearath had a 25-yard thumper tipped wide by Veasna. Rithysen were deflated at the end of the match after holding the students for all but ten minutes of the game.

The students of BBU eventually claimed the points with a 2-1 success

Rithysen were game but lost out with ten minutes to go

Change of venue

Moments before we left our Singapore hotel for the last time this morning: LtoR: Kouch Sokumpheak, me, Thul Sothearith, Phoung Narong.

Phnom Penh Crown arrived back in Phnom Penh at lunchtime today, after we left Singapore on Jetstar at 11.50am. Flight time was 1 hour 45 minutes. Last night the whole squad went to watch another of the Singapore Cup ties, this one involved two of the foreign teams, Pattaya from Thailand and Okkthar from Burma. Okkthar were staying at the same hotel as us and also included ex-Crown striker Jean Roger Lappe Lappe in their ranks, so that's who we cheered for. The Burmese team, roared on by a very large and vociferous following, squeezed home 2-1. In my opinion neither team could lace the boots of SAFFC - so it's just our misfortune that we drew one of the strongest teams possible in our 1st round game. C'est la vie. After a quick rest the squad were training again at 4pm in readiness for their big crunch match versus Naga on Monday at 3pm. I've just heard that the football federation, in their infinite wisdom (I'm being sarcastic) have decided to change the venue for this important match, as well as our final league game of the 1st half of the season, against the National Police in a week's time on 25 June. It's certainly late in the day to be making these decisions. Both matches will now be played at the Old Stadium, aka Army Stadium, on what can only be described as a pitch in a very sorry state. The Olympic Stadium surface leaves a lot to be desired at times, but playing top level matches at this alternative venue, on a pitch I've played on many times myself so I know its not good enough, is an embarrassment. I believe the excuse they've come up with is that they are preparing the Olympic pitch for the World Cup game v Laos on 29 June, yet they are allowing 4 matches this weekend and that ridiculous national team friendly against a Vietnamese touring team on Wednesday 23 June. Again, this smacks of Crown being penalized for representing the country in international club competitions, as they were when the FFC refused to shift the Kirivong game, rather than being supported by its own federation.

The Crown players take in last night's Singapore Cup match

A look at last night's game on the artificial pitch at the Jelan Besar Stadium

I finally succumbed to the extraordinary number of photos the players take of themselves. Here I am with (LtoR) goalkeeping coach Prak Vanny, Kouch Sokumpheak (with scarf to keep warm) and Tieng Tiny.

On reflection

Crown line up before the kick-off last night

Whilst the result went against Phnom Penh Crown last night - they went down 4-0 to Singapore Armed Forces here in Singapore in the 1st round of the RHB Singapore Cup - and SAFFC were the better team on the night, there are some mitigating factors which throw a slightly different light on the reversal. There are no excuses when you are beaten by a better team but there are lessons to be learned for the future. SAFFC were playing AFC Champions League football last year, that is two steps above the AFC President's Cup competition that Crown recently competed in. It's effectively, Cambodia meeting Japan in an international match. That's an example of the gulf between the two clubs. It was clear on the night that SAFFC were better prepared for the match, in terms of their freshness, having not played for two weeks, and their high level experience. The average age of their starting line-up was 30 years of age, Crown's was 24. In international club football competition that is a major advantage. The SAFFC team was stuffed full of Singaporean national team players as well as 2 Croatian players - who were noticeably more accomplished than anyone else - and two naturalized foreigners at the heart of their defence. They were well drilled, very mobile, skilful on the ball and their passing was razor-sharp. They had a good day, scoring goals at crucial moments in the match, and Crown found it hard to match them. Crown missed their key defender Odion Obadin in defence, after the Nigerian wasn't granted a visa, though two players who emerged with great credit were keeper Peng Bunchhay, who was called into action a dozen times and saved a penalty, and debutant Takahito Ota, who played well in midfield displaying a good range of passes, good vision and a good engine. Crown had half a dozen presentable chances in the game, five of them in the 1st half, but couldn't break through. SAFFC were more clinical and precise in their finishing, they just shaded the attempts on goal, but found the net on three occasions before the interval. 3-0 down, the game was already in the bag for the home team. Pitching themselves against better teams will show the Crown players what standard they need to achieve to compete at this level. The finals of the AFC President's Cup will be equally competitive when they are played in Chinese Taipei in a few months time and lessons learned last night will hold Crown in good stead for that challenge that lies ahead.

Crown coach Bouy Dary faces the press after last night's defeat

Winning coach Richard Bok talks to the press

2-goal man of the match Erwan Gunawan of SAFFC

A look at the action at SAFFC's home ground

Referee Abdul Malik admires his own coin tossing ability

Crown coach Bouy Dary gives his team a pre-match prep-talk

Taka Ota and San Narith going through their pre-match routine

Crown physio Chhin Sophorn applies some strapping to Tieng Tiny before the match begins

The impressive grandstand at the home of SAFFC

Action from last night courtesy of SAFFC.com with Thul Sothearith challenging Mislav Karoglan

A photo with Singapore blogger Po Hui (left) from www.bolasepako.com

Hands up

The PPCFC starting line-up: Back Row LtoR: Narith, Ota, Sovannrithy, Tiny, Njoku, Bunchhay. Front Row: Sopanha, Virak, Sokumpheak, Chaya, Sothearith

Hands up. When you are beaten by a better team you have to admit it and tonight, Phnom Penh Crown were on the receiving end of such a result in their 4-0 defeat by the Singapore Armed Forces (SAFFC) in their first round Singapore Cup encounter. The home team, in front of a crowd of 1,312, produced an efficient hatchet job on the upstarts from Cambodia, scoring at crucial times and batting Crown into submission with neat incisive passing and clinical finishing. Crown had their opportunities but SAFFC had more and another good showing from Crown keeper Penh Bunchhay kept the scoreline down. On his debut, Takahito Ota was the pick of the outfield players for Crown, on a night where the team didn't do themselves justice. Caretaker coach Bouy Dary echoed that in his post match comments. "We lost concentration and we didn’t perform as I know we can. SAFFC are a good team but we allowed them to be, we made it look too easy for them. Fitness was a telling point and we looked tired after our glut of games recently. Now we have to start again for our important game on Monday against Naga.” The Warriors, as SAFFC are known, put out an experienced starting eleven with seven players over thirty years of age. The oldest players in the Crown team were two twenty-six year olds. On this occasion, experience won out.

The crowd included a good sized contingent from Cambodia, but it was the 8-times Singapore champions who stamped their authority on the game after a fairly even opening period. Though Crown keeper Peng Bunchhay was called upon to keep out Ivan Jerkovic’s low drive early on, it was Kouch Sokumpheak and Kingsley Njoku that very nearly unlocked the Warriors defence. Sokumpheak’s turn and low shot was held by SAFFC skipper and keeper Shahril Jantan, whilst Njoku’s diving header at the far post from San Narith’s searching cross, missed the target by a few inches. Quick feet in the penalty area by SAFFC’s Croatian striker Mislav Karoglan unnerved the Crown defence and moments later, they failed to cut out Shaiful Esah’s low center and man-of-the-match Erwan Gunawan picked his spot from the edge of the box. Eighteen minutes on the clock and the home side had their noses in front. With their next attack, they made it two. Gunawan sent over an inch perfect cross from the right flank and Indra Sahdan was equally precise with his header into the far corner on 21 minutes. Three minutes later and a neat interchange between Chan Chaya and Sokumpheak presented the latter with a glorious opportunity as he raced to the edge of the box, but his shot on the run missed the cross-bar by five yards. As the half wore on, the home team began to dominate possession and Peng Bunchhay was called upon to dive bravely at the feet of Syaiful Iskandar and then collect a low drive from Sahdan. Two attempts by Kingsley Njoku offered some resistance, the first was a looping shot after he barged his way onto a drop-kick from Bunchhay, and then moments later his powerful drive was pushed aside by keeper Jantan. As the clock ticked down for the half-time break, SAFFC were awarded a penalty by referee Abdul Malik, when Tieng Tiny was adjudged to have swiped away the feet of Mislav Karoglan. The striker put the ball on the penalty spot and quickly punted it into the net. The referee ordered a retake as he’d not blown his whistle and the second spot-kick was expertly pushed aside by Bunchhay, diving to his left. From the resultant corner, Erwan Gunawan ghosted in unmarked to head home Esah’s well-flighted center. It was a killer blow for Crown coming in the second minute of time added on and immediately after the penalty save. Heads down, the Crown players trudged back to the dressing room.

SAFFC's slick passing and neat interchanges on the edge of the Crown box were causing all sorts of problems though Bunchhay was out quickly to smother Sahdan and then acrobatically grab a lobbed shot by Raza Khalik. Substitute Fazrul Nawaz made an impression just seven minutes after his arrival on the field. He was in acres of space to tuck the ball home for goal number 4 on 67 minutes after Khalik's low cross on the run. It was all over for Crown bar the shouting. Three minutes later Kingsley Njoku took Sun Sopanha's long ball in his stride, only to see his goal-bound effort cleared off the line by Daniel Bennett to put an end to Crown's resistance. There was still time for Nawaz to miss from close range with Bunchhay breathing down his neck, as SAFFC finished the match as worthy winners. Winning coach Richard Bok commented after the game. "Going 3 goals up on the stroke of half-time really helped us. Crown gave us a good fight, certainly for the first twenty minutes, but with our two weeks' break we looked fresh and composed on the ball throughout the game."
PPCFC line-up: Bunchhay, Narith, Sovannrithy (Dara 40), Tiny, Sothearith, Sopanha (Narong 78), Ota, Chaya, Virak (Ratana 84), Sokumpheak, Njoku. Subs not used: Visokra, Dara, Nwafor, Ratana, Narong, S Pheng, H Pheng.

A dejected Crown camp immediately after the final whistle

The SAFFC starting line-up pose for the camera

The Crown bench moments before the kick-off tonight

Inside the Crown dressing room as coach Bouy Dary issues final instructions to his players

Light exercises

After this morning's light exercises, a team photo, naturally

Today is the big day. At 7.30pm tonight Phnom Penh Crown will take to the field against one of Singapore's strongest clubs. Between 2006-2009 the Singapore Armed Forces team carried all before them with 4 consecutive S-League championship titles. Last year they wavered a little and finished 4th but are again challenging for honours this season. Tonight they meet the best team in Cambodia. A 2-legged quarter-final tie against Albirex Niigata awaits the winners. Tonight's match is a one-off, winner takes all encounter. The Crown team arrived in Singapore yesterday afternoon. After last night's training session on the SAFFC pitch, the players had a light warming up session this morning at 8am, in front of their hotel. A few stretches and a jog just to get themselves ready for tonight's exertions. The team have free time now until a pre-lunch team meeting to discuss tactics. After lunch, more rest until high-tea and then off to the ground a couple of hours before the game. Everyone is in very good spirits, they know how good the opposition are but they also know how well they can play when they're on top of their game as we saw in the recent President's Cup matches. That's the sort of standard they'll need to match to get anything from tonight's game.

Coach Bouy Dary gives his team the low-down on the day's schedule

Taka signs on

Crown's new signing, Takahito Ota

Phnom Penh Crown look likely to unveil their new signing, 24 year old Japanese midfielder Takahito Ota in their Singapore Cup match against SAFFC tomorrow night. He might even be in line to get a starting berth, but we will have to wait and see. The club's latest signing arrived late into the evening after being held up in Phnom Penh awaiting his Cambodian visa and having also just got the thumbs up for his international transfer certificate, which allows him to formally sign for Crown. Taka, as he's known, has been with the club for a month on a trial basis and has played a couple of practice matches in the past week. He's done enough to earn himself a contract according to caretaker coach Bouy Dary and he becomes the club's fourth foreigner in the current squad, and is believed to be the first Japanese player to join a C-League club. Born in Toyama in Japan, he played his youth football with JaSRAFC and Mie FC Ranpore before joining Ishikawa FC, where he combined semi-professional football with working in a restaurant. Determined to make the break into full-time football, Taka travelled to Thailand where he teamed up with the Bangkok Christian College team for a season in the Thai 2nd Division Bangkok Regional league. He also tried his luck in Myanmar with Okkthar United, Yadanabon and Manaw Myay but couldn't secure a contract so he returned to Thailand with Division 2 team Sakaeo City for a few months prior to coming over to Cambodia. "I heard from Sin Dalin (ex-Army and now with Sakaeo) and Khim Borey (ex-Crown and now with Sisaket) in Thailand that PPCFC is a good club and I wanted to test myself in Cambodia, so I came here. I now know that PPCFC is a good club, they are the number one club in Cambodia and I'm very happy to join them. I want to help them become the best professional club they can and to do well for myself as the first Japanese player in Cambodia," said the smiling new signing. Whilst in Thailand in May he also took part in a charity match as part of Hidetoshi Nakata's Japan All-Stars to raise money for the tsunami and earthquake victims. Taka is also pretty savvy when it comes to the internet. He's one of the few players to have his own blog (in Japanese) and a Twitter profile. Take a look for yourself here. As Taka joins the Crown squad for the game tomorrow, one face who will be missing is defensive kingpin Odion Obadin. He didn't travel with the Crown team after he failed to get a visa from the Singapore authorities. The way he's been playing this season, I think they probably did it deliberately.

PPCFC in Singapore

The Crown team line-up for a farewell photo at the airport in Phnom Penh

We're in Singapore but the internet access at the hotel is appalling. Hence the delay in getting online and the limited time I have available. It's taken me 45 minutes just to get access to type this drivel. We flew from Phnom Penh after lunch on one of the cheap airlines. Then picked up at Changi Airport and whisked off to our hotel, the Albert Court Village Hotel where a late buffet lunch was waiting. There was little time to rest as the players and officials boarded the bus again for the 35 minute ride to the Armed Forces Stadium at Choa Chu Kang for a training session on the pitch and under floodlights. The pitch is flat, though the ground is open-sided on three sides, with a pretty imposing stand on one side. There's a large running track around the pitch. The players ended their session with some penalty kicks as the match tomorrow will go to 90 minutes, then extra time and then penalties if necessary. On our return to the hotel, and after a late dinner, the players had to formally register with the Singapore FA and each player had to undergo facial recognition from the FA official before they tootled off to bed and we continued with a manager's team meeting to iron out the finer points for tomorrow. Takahito Ota arrived as we finished, he was held up in Phnom Penh awaiting his Cambodian visa, and as we were chatting with Jean Roger Lappe Lappe, the former Crown striker who was staying in the same hotel as us with his current team, Okkthar United from Myanmar. The players will be up and out for a run at 8am tomorrow morning.
Footnote: We've just heard that Chinese Taipei will get the finals of the AFC President's Cup in September. PPCFC had indicated their interest in hosting the finals but the AFC awarded them to the former Taiwan yesterday.

Caretaker coach Bouy Dary is interviewed by local television at the airport

On the SAFFC pitch and under lights this evening

Goalkeeping coach Prak Vanny puts his 2 keepers through their paces

Tes Sophat leads the team through their step exercises

A final word for the players after their session ends from coach Bouy Dary

The main grandstand at the SAFFC ground

The Crown players take a breather under the lights. The houses on the far side sell for in excess of $1million.

Old friends, Jean Roger Lappe Lappe meets up with PPCFC coach Bouy Dary